SIGNS OF DEMON INFLUENCE AND SIX STEPS TO PREVENT IT

Can a Christian be influenced by demons? The signs of demon influence are all around us. Do you know what sign to look for? I will also explain how to remove demon influences. To understand if you are being influenced by the devil, you need to know that he is the source of evil.

We are all born with a sinful nature that influences us to go our own way and not God’s way. Our sinful nature is easily lured to please our fleshly desires for sex, drugs, alcohol, gaining wealth, power, and so on. When we sin, that is evil against God; evil is also harming someone sexually, physically, or emotionally. Evil is the opposite of goodness and love. Doing good things is loving and benefiting another person and helping them. All sin and evil deeds are punished by God. Sometimes, He allows Satan to have his way in you to hopefully bring you to repentance (1Cor. 5:1-5).

Submit to God and resist the devil.

Both my parents were Christians who professed Jesus as their Savior. They were even baptized by the Holy Spirit, yet they were both influenced by the devil to do evil. They were not submitted to God and did not resist the devil’s influence (Jam 4:7). My mother was a bitter, angry person and spoke destructive words, so I never felt loved or safe. My father was a thief and addicted to pornography, which led him down the pedophile path. How can this be? Remember, evil is harming people and not loving others as God commands. Evil actions begin as a thought that is within your control, which begins by submitting your mind to God and resisting the devil’s influence.

Six Steps to Prevent Demonic Influence.

Once you have acknowledged you are a sinner in need of forgiveness and asked God to come into your heart, you also need to follow these six steps to stay on the path of life that leads to heaven. James 4:6-8 explains, “But he gives more grace. Therefore, it says, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ 7) Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8) Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

You must put off pride and put on humility (James 3:13-18).

You must desire to please God and fear Him by submitting to His authority in your life (Matt. 10:28).

Resist the devil by putting off sinful thoughts and putting on Jesus and making no provision for the flesh (Rom. 13:14).

Draw near to God. Hebrews 10:22 states, “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”

Repent of all sin.

Renew your mind.

It is one thing to pray the sinner’s prayer; it is another to open your heart and let Jesus in to change your mind and heart. The Bible is clear that we are to put off our old life and put on a new life, in the likeness of God, Holy and righteous (Eph 4:22-24 and Col. 3:5-10). Colossians 3:5 states, “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”

Jesus explains to the religious leaders in Mark 7:20-23, “And he said, ‘What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21) For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23) All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.’” The good news is that when you open your heart to Jesus and submit to Him, you have divine power to live a godly life (2Peter 1:3-11).

What fruit do you produce?

Jesus tells the religious leaders that a tree is known by its fruit in Luke 6:43-45 and Matthew 12:33-37. Mathew 12:35, Jesus says, “The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.” To know if you are being influenced by the devil to do evil, listen to what you say (Matt. 12:34). Also, ask God to search your heart and mind and show you what your treasure is (Jer. 17:10 and Ps. 139:23-24). The writer of Hebrews wrote in 3:12, “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.” This verse is about believers who have not submitted to God’s work in their lives to transform their thinking and actions. God wants to abide in us, and we in Him, to produce good fruit (John 15:4-6).

I met my first husband in church. He professed to be a Christian and got his license to be a pastor, yet he was very abusive and wicked. After our divorce, he went from one woman after another and no longer walks with God. Inviting Jesus into your heart does not mean you let him sit in the foyer, where you spend time with him occasionally. Jesus wants to dwell in the entire house and remove all that is not holy. 2Corinthians7:1 states, “Since we have these promises (2Cor. 6:14-18), beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.” The fear of God is putting away all our evil thoughts and doing good. This is why many pastors and Christians succumb to the schemes of the devil and fall away from their faith in God.

Conclusion

Saying the sinner’s prayer and acknowledging you are a sinner in need of forgiveness is the narrow gate we all must pass through to walk the path of life (Matt. 7:13-14). But if you stop there, you can easily go back to the path of destruction. Walking the path of life requires putting off your old self and its evil desires and putting on your new self, which is the image of Jesus. Removing, putting off sinful, fleshly desires removes the devil’s influence in your life. Does your life reflect Jesus, who loves, forgives, and serves? Or does your life look like the devil, who hates, is bitter, kills, and destroys relationships with hurtful words and harmful, evil deeds?

RELATED

How Does The Devil Scheme Against You?

THE ONLY WAY TO STOP DEMON INFLUENCES

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All verses are from the English Standard Version. If you find my posts and website helpful, please share this link with your friends and family: hopeforcompletehealing.com. The information is copyright-protected. Please do not reproduce any part of the posts or my book without proper citation to Joyce Hanscom and this website.

My latest book, Unlocking God’s Promises, explains 18 categories of promises relevant to each of our lives. It also includes the promises in Psalm 91.

If you find this website helpful, you would like to read Breaking Mental Strongholds, which expands on my website book and includes many of my posts.

Additionally, consider my book Fighting Unseen Battles, which describes the many unhealthy beliefs that control our lives and the truths behind them. To learn more about this book, read the post How to Fight Unseen Battles.

Contact me at hopeforcompletehealing@gmail.com and ask for a PDF of Eight Life-Changing Prayers from the Bible. The prayers are for the Spirit of wisdom, renewal, spiritual strength, knowledge of His will, virtues of God, non-believers, the 23rd Psalm, and victory. I will also send you the Lord’s Prayer Model to pray effectively. Please leave your name, so I know you are a real person making the request.

How Does The Devil Scheme Against You?

So, how are we caught in the devil’s schemes? Do you believe you can’t be deceived by the devil? You learned in my previous posts that even Jesus’ disciples were deceived. Deception is to mislead and appear to be true, but it is not. How do you know if you are being deceived by an evil spirit you do not see?

The anatomy of deception or temptation.

This post contains excerpts from my book, Fighting Unseen Battles. In my last post, I explained how temptations open us up to do the devil’s will through our thoughts. Thankfully, we can take every thought captive and submit them to God. Satan’s deceptions follow the same strategy, so let’s look at the first temptation pattern in Genesis chapter three:

Satan tempts Eve to doubt and question God’s words and motives when He asked her in Genesis 3:1, “Did God actually say?” And then in verse four, Satan says, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” His suggestion creates the thought that God was withholding something good from her. Temptations are lies that generate false beliefs.

The forbidden object looks enticing: “saw that the tree was good for food” (Genesis 3:6).

She desired to disobey and eat the fruit: “and that it was a delight to the eyes” (Genesis 3:6).

She believed the lie that she would be like God, which created pride: “the tree was to be desired to make one wise” (Genesis 3:6).

She acted on the lure to disobey God and sin: “she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband” (Genesis 3:6).

Consequence of falling into Satan’s temptation to sin.

Ever since Adam and Eve lost in the first encounter of deception with the devil, we have struggled with a sinful nature. Sin is doing evil when we forsake God and disobey His loving, protective commands (2Chr. 12:14; Jer. 2:19). Sin has consequences. James1:14-15 explains, “But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15) Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” The Bible says you are dead in your sin (Eph. 2:1; Col. 2:13a; Rom. 5:10, 6:23, 8:10). Dead means no life, no energy, and no growth, like a branch cut off from a tree. Dead is how you feel when you sin; you may become fearful, depressed, and feel purposeless and devoid of hope and life. Shame and guilt are also consequences of sin.

How to master our thoughts.

Cain became angry and wanted to kill Abel. God spoke to Cain in Genesis 4:7 and said, “Sin is crouching at the door, and its desire is toward you, but you must rule over it.” God is telling Cain to rule over or master his thoughts of anger and jealousy, but he did not and killed his brother Abel. Sin begins as a thought that leads to desire, so God uses the image of crouching to show how sin is waiting to control our thoughts. We are to master all our thoughts and make them obey God’s commands. Namely, to love Him and to love others.

Cain was angry because Abel’s offering was accepted by God, and his wasn’t. Anger is not a sin because God also gets angry, yet He is perfect (Num. 22:22; Judg. 2:12; Rev. 14:10). According to Webster’s dictionary, anger is a feeling that may result from injury, mistreatment, opposition, and so on.

Is anger a sin or an indication of something being wrong?

Our anger indicates that we are offended by a perceived unfairness or unmet expectation. The term offended, according to Webster’s dictionary, means to feel irritated, annoyed, or displeased because of someone’s sin, negligence, or disregard. Ephesians 4:26–27 states, “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.” We sin when our anger causes us to retaliate against the person who hurt us, by returning an evil for an evil or an insult for an insult (Rom. 12:17; 1Thes. 5:15). The devil tempts us to act on our anger and to sin against another person, but don’t give him that opportunity; take your thought captive.

The Bible says we are to do what is good and honorable to everyone, even those who hurt us (Rom. 12:17). 1Peter 3:9 even says, “Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.” God wants us to rule over anger and not let it rule us, but to bless those who offend us or do evil to us, which is hard to do on our own. Through our fleshly desire, we are tempted to retaliate and make the person pay for hurting us. God said we are to forgive and live in peace with everyone as far as it depends on us.

Conclusion

Everyone is susceptible to being deceived by the devil. Remember, he roams about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, so be watchful and stand firm in your faith (1Peter 5:8-9a). You are in a spiritual war that is full of offenses and deceptions that lure you into sin and spiritual death (Eph. 6:12). Every day, you need to put on the full armor of God. You can take every thought captive and make it obey God (2Cor. 10:5). Knowing what the Bible says is necessary to know the truth, so you know when you are being tempted to sin and do evil. If you do fall into temptation and sin, immediately turn back to God and seek His forgiveness. 1John 1:9 tells us, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Don’t let Satan deceive you that you cannot be forgiven and made right with God. Take all thoughts of guilt and shame captive and command them to be gone, and tell yourself that you are forgiven and a new creation in Christ Jesus.

If you are interested in knowing more about this topic, I encourage you to get my book, Fighting Unseen Battles.

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My latest book, Unlocking God’s Promises, explains 18 categories of promises relevant to each of our lives. It also includes the promises in Psalm 91.

If you find this website helpful, you would like to read Breaking Mental Strongholds, which expands on my website book and includes many of my posts.

THE ONLY WAY TO STOP DEMON INFLUENCES

Do you wonder why you or your loved ones are struggling? Why do you or others sometimes feel hopeless about doing what is right? In my first post about Jesus’s perspective on the spirit world, I said Christians could unwittingly invite evil spirits into their hearts to oppress them. You will learn how to recognize the schemes of the devil to deceive you and how to stop them. The devil works in your mind to deceive and tempt you. 2Corinthians 11:3 explains, “But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.” In this post, we will look at three examples of temptations, the results, and how to stop the temptation before you sin and invite the devil to occupy your heart and mind.

In the last post, I explained how to successfully fight against the devil’s attacks. I will expand on that. 2Corinthians 2:11, Paul said, “So that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.” Put on the full armor of God so you are not outwitted by Satan’s schemes or designs. The devil’s number one scheme is temptation to get you to disobey God and sin so you will be separated from Him (Is. 59:2). If Satan can separate you from God, then he can oppress you and cause all kinds of troubles in your life. Repentance is the only solution to defeat Satan if he does tempt you to sin. 1Jonn 1:9 states, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Remember, Jesus is your advocate (1John 2:1-2).

Temptation of Judas Iscariot

One sad example is when Judas Iscariot, a disciple of Jesus, was tempted by Satan to betray Jesus for money. Judas followed Jesus for three years and believed He was the Son of God. Luke 22:3-4 tells us, “Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve. 4) He went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them.” The Apostle John wrote in John 13:2 that “During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him.” And in John 13:27, he says, “Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.”

Because Judas opened himself up to Satan to sin, he then tempted Judas to kill himself. Matthew 27:3-5 states, “Then when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, saying, ‘I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.’ They said, ‘What is that to us? See to it yourself.’ 5) And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself.” If Judas had repented, then Jesus would have forgiven him. Satan is the thief that seeks to steal, kill, and destroy, but Jesus came to give us life (John 10:10).

Observation: Satan first put it into Judas’s mind to betray Jesus. Then Judas acts on the temptation and seeks a way to betray Jesus. He still had a chance to take that thought captive and rebuked the enemy as Jesus did when He was tempted. In the Gospel of John, he said that the devil put it into Judas’s heart to betray Jesus, which involves feelings. Then, when Jesus pointed out Judas at the last supper, Satan entered into him. Jesus knew from the beginning that Judas would betray him. God knew Judas’s heart, that he valued money more than Jesus and would do the will of the devil. Judas kept the moneybags, and he would keep some of the money given that was to take care of the poor (John 12:6).

Interpretation: We all have weaknesses that the devil will use to lure us to sin. For Judas, that was money. He never repented of his sin of stealing, which was why the devil was able to enter him. James 1:13-15 states, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14) But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15) Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.”

Application: All temptation begins in the mind, so when you are tempted, take the thought captive (2Cor. 10:3-5) and verbally put it out of your mind, then put into your mind the truth found in God’s word. So, putting on the armor of God and reading your Bible each day will help you know the truth and speak the truth into Satan’s lies and temptations.

Jesus Overcomes the Devil’s Temptations

Jesus is your example for how to overcome the devil’s attempt to destroy your life. Read Matthew 4:1-10 about how Satan tempted Jesus and how He responded to Satan using God’s word, the truth. Jesus told Satan to be gone, and you can do that also. The only way to overcome the temptations and deceptions of the devil is to humbly submit to do God’s will and speak the Word of God.

Satan tempted Ananias and Sapphira

Other believers who were tempted to sin were Ananias and Sapphira. You learn about them in Acts 5:1-11. Again, the temptation involved money. 1Timothy 6:10 states, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” The Apostle Peter said that Satan filled Ananias’s heart to lie. The followers of Jesus were selling their property and donating the proceeds to help those in need. The consequence of lying to God was devastating.

1) But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and with his wife’s knowledge, he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

3) But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?

4) While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.”

5) When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it.

Observation: When Ananias gave the money to Peter, he made it appear that he gave the whole amount. Peter, being filled with the Holy Spirit, knew in his heart that Ananias did not give all the proceeds from the sale. The consequence was being struck dead by God, which caused all who saw it to fear God and not do evil and sin. The same thing happened to Ananias’s wife.

Interpretation: When you are tempted, Satan fills your heart with deception to justify your sin. He will make you believe it is okay and nothing bad will happen. It is never good to sin. It breaks trust with God and with others, and there is always consequences.

Application: When you are tempted, ask God to help you do what is right, not what you feel like doing, which may be Satan working in your heart. Make no provision for your fleshly desires (Rom. 13:14). Ephesians 2:1-3 explains, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” Evil spirits work in those who disobey God by following the passions of their flesh and not walking in righteousness.

Conclusion

Temptation is inevitable, and it begins in your mind. When Jesus taught the disciples how to pray, He included the line, “Lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from the evil one.” Jesus included that line because He knew we would be tempted by the devil as He was. Jesus successfully defeated all the devil’s attempts to get Him to sin by using scriptural truths against him. That is what we must do when we are tempted by the devil. My book, Fighting Unseen Battles, identifies Satan’s deceptions and lures and the Scriptural truths to defeat him.

The Apostle Paul was concerned that those in Thessalonica who believed would be tempted to sin and to turn away from the faith. 1Thessalonians 3:5 states, “For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain.” The Apostle Paul writes to the Corinthian church in Corinthians10:13, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”

We have hope because Jesus suffered when tempted and now helps us when we are tempted (Hebrews2:18). All you need to do is recognize that you are being tempted to go your own way and do what feels good to you, and not go God’s way. If you have God’s armor on, you will recognize when you are being tempted and can call out to Jesus to help you do what is right. Hebrews 4:15-16 states, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16) Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” The only way to stop the devil’s destructive work in your life is to humbly submit to God’s will, put on God’s armor, and speak the Word of God to overcome the temptations and deceptions of the devil.

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My latest book, Unlocking God’s Promises, explains 18 categories of promises relevant to each of our lives. It also includes the promises in Psalm 91.

If you find this website helpful, you would like to read Breaking Mental Strongholds, which expands on my website book and includes many of my posts.

The Spirit World Through Jesus’s Eyes, Introduction

Have you ever wondered if a person had demons or oppressive spirits? What would that look like? In the coming months, I will explore the unseen world through the eyes of Jesus. My posts will be biblically based using the Inductive Bible Study method, which focuses on observation, interpretation, and application. We know the Bible says that angels are ministering spirits for those who are to inherit salvation (Heb. 1:14). They give us messages (read the Christmas story as an example) and protect us (Ps. 91:11). Angels obey the word of God (Ps. 103:20).

Last year, I wrote about mental health. As I was praying about what to write this year, the Lord impressed on my mind to do a deep dive into how we can know when we are dealing with a demon or oppressive spirits, and what to do. I lead a Bible study in the prison system, and I have seen the evidence of demon activity in the women who attend my Bible Study. I have cast out demons as well. And, I have been attacked by demons/evil spirits. I will explain how I knew and what I did about it. Our mental health is also influenced by unseen evil forces.

Misconceptions About Demons

I am surprised by how many people do not believe that Christians can be afflicted by demons. And how many Christians believe that when Jesus died on the Cross, he defeated Satan, which is true, so we are victorious over them, which we are. But what many Christians are not aware of is how they are unwittingly inviting evil spirits to oppress them through their sin and thought life. Then, I know some Christians who rebuke everything as if a demon is behind it. If a door is stuck, they rebuke the demon that is causing it to stick. YIKES! We need a balanced biblical view of demons, evil spirits, oppressive spirits, and Satan. I generated 16 pages of scripture references, so I have plenty of factual material to teach from.

The Three References to Evil Entities.

So what is the difference between demons, evil spirits, and Satan? The Bible uses all three references. I am not an expert on this topic, but I have firsthand experience. Let’s look at what the Scripture says.

Demons are known to be the fallen angels who followed Lucifer in his sin and were thrown down to the earth with Satan, who is also known as the devil. Revelations 12:9 states, “And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.”

Demons are spirits, Matthew 8:16 states, “That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick.” King James reads, “When …, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, ….” The New International Version and New American Standard Version read, “When… many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word…”

Evil spirits are demons. Luke 8:2 explains, “And also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out.” Here is another example of evil spirits also being demons: Acts 19:15-16 states, “But the evil spirit answered them, ‘Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?’ ¹⁶And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them, and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.” We know the demons who possessed the men at Gadarenes knew who Jesus was (Matt. 8:28-29). The evil spirit in the man in Acts 19:15 also knew Jesus, which suggests that evil spirits are demons.

Concludion

I described two spirit entities, demons and evil spirits; to respect your time, I will write a separate post on Satan. We do not have to fear the devil, evil spirits, or demons because Jesus Christ has given us the authority to command them to leave. BUT many of us give the evil spirits the right to oppress us. I will elaborate on that in another post. YOU can live in victory and freedom through Jesus Christ.

Blessings.

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My latest book, Unlocking God’s Promises, explains 18 categories of promises relevant to each of our lives. It also includes the promises in Psalm 91.

If you find this website helpful, you would like to read Breaking Mental Strongholds, which expands on my website book and includes many of my posts.

Exposing Satan’s Attack on Christian Believers

How many people do you know won’t go to church for one reason or another? In my last post, I explained why Satan wants to destroy the church. He is effectively dismembering the body of Christ, but most Christians do not realize the unseen war all around them, so they let it go on. It is time to fight for the spiritual life of your fellow Believers and the Church. If you don’t know how to fight demonic forces, I recommend my book called Fighting Unseen Battles.

In my second post of this series, I addressed why people leave the church. Though there are many reasons, the number one reason people leave the church is being offended. Have you been offended by someone or something in the church? What was your natural response when you became offended? Most offended people simply leave the church and lose their faith, which is Satan’s goal for all of us. People are messy, and so is the church. Jesus said in Luke 5:32, “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

Satan causes Believers to Doubt and Walk Away From God

I ended one of my posts with Hebrews 3:12, which states, “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God.” Doubt is unbelief, which comes from the devil. Unbelief is a sin; otherwise, why would it be called evil? Unbelief is disobedience, as we are all called to believe.

Doubt leads to disobedience. Read in Genesis 3 how Satan deceived Eve into eating the apple. He began by causing her to doubt God, which led to disobedience and separation from God. Satan uses the same tactic. If that does not work, then he uses distraction. I know many young people who grew up in the church, then later believed Satan’s lies, began to doubt, and were lured away from their faith through worldliness. My oldest son is one of those people who stopped believing, and many of my friends and Pastors I know have children who doubted and walked away from their faith.

First, don’t judge them; they need your love. They know how you believe, so preaching to them does not help. Second, pray for God to remove the blinders that Satan has put on them (2Cor. 4:4). Remind God that He promised that His Word would not return void and accomplish what He intended it to do (Is. 55:11). Pray for God to restore them and lead them back to the path of righteousness (Ps. 23:3). Seek your Heavenly Father to keep drawing them to himself. (John 6:44). Don’t give up faith; keep praying for those who fell away from the faith because of doubt and worldliness. Hebrews 11:6 explains, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Continue to diligently seek God for your children and for everyone who has fallen away. Keep in mind that you are fighting an unseen war.

A friend said the worst thing she did was encourage her son to go to college. She feels that college caused him to doubt God, now he has walked away from his faith. My youngest son went to college and remained firm in his faith, but my oldest decided he would instead go the way of the world, which caused him to walk away from his faith. Many people doubt God because of unanswered prayers. I wrote a series of posts to expose this topic because I struggled in this area. You can read all my posts in Posts About Prayer. Satan will use any means to cause doubt, which is why we need to take every thought captive and make it obey Christ (2Cor. 10:5).

Lured Away from Our Faith By Worldly Activities

I have known many Christians who skipped church to participate in secular activities. Once in a while is okay, but what often happens is a person can find other activities they would rather do than go to church. For example, my husband is part of a group of guys who shoot at clays. Though the activity is held Sunday morning, he does not miss church but goes right after church and is usually the last group to do the rounds. More and more, sporting competitions are held Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights, which keep the kids and parents from attending church.

Since the pandemic and mandating churches to close their doors, many churches have lost members because the members are either too afraid to go to church or it is easier to do internet/TV church. I explain the danger of not attending church in my first post. Leaving the church for worldly pursuits is a slow fade; it is usually not all at one time. I have written a lot about the dangers of worldliness. Here are two posts, Recognize Worldly Thinking and be Free and Unseen Battle With The Secular World.

I had an inmate in my Bible Study admit to being strong in her faith, and she read her Bible every day. One day, as she watched TV, the Holy Spirit drew her to read her Bible, but she ignored the Holy Spirit and kept watching TV. Soon she stopped reading her Bible altogether and began to hang out with her old friends, who enticed her to get back into using drugs. She said she knew that when she stopped reading her Bible and stopped going to church, that was when Satan enticed her to hang out with her old friends. Now she was in jail again.

CONCLUSION

I could write so much more but I would love to hear what you think about these topics and your experience. I hope you read my other posts for a better understanding and to learn how to fight these unseen battles. I encourage you to buy my book. If you want to know what my book is about read my review post.

May God Bless you richly,

Joyce

Why Satan is Waring against the Church

I had an incredible revelation as I pondered my last post on Winning the War Against The Church. Most of you probably already know, but for those who don’t, I hope you find my insight enlightening. The Church is not only a group of Believers who come together to worship God, grow in knowledge and grace, and meet the congregation’s needs. The Church is also called the body of Christ. Read the following verses and tell me if my interpretation is wrong. 1Corinthians 12:27 states, “Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” Also, Ephesians 4:12-16 explains that the church leaders are “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, ¹³until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, ¹⁴so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. ¹⁵Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, ¹⁶from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”

According to Ephesians 4:12-16, the church leaders are to build up and teach their parishioners how to trust in God and grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ so they can be mature Christians. Mature Christians won’t be deceived by false doctrine and deceitful schemes from false prophets. 1John 4:1 tells us, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

Our focus is to know the truth, so we can speak the truth and grow in the image of our loving Christ Jesus. A mature Christian will help the body of Christ grow in love. If a Believer is divisive and a gossip, they are not acting in love, nor are they mature. When a Christian has damaged emotions from wounds and offenses, they will be spiritually weak. Bitter Christians cannot help the church body grow in love. Your soul wounds from repressed painful memories keep you from maturing emotionally, and they need to be found and healed for your heart to be pure. I wrote a post explaining why we need to purify our hearts, called WHY HEAL YOUR HEART AND PURIFY YOUR SOUL?.

How Is The Church The Body of Christ?

Christ is the head of the Church (1Cor. 11:3 and Eph. 5:23). The passage in 1Corinthians 12:13-22 explains the members of the body of Christ as follows:

“For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit [the Holy Spirit of God].

¹⁴For the body does not consist of one member but of many.

¹⁵If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.

¹⁶And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.

¹⁷If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell?

¹⁸But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.

¹⁹If all were a single member, where would the body be?

²⁰As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. ²¹The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” ²²On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable.”

We need each other. Everyone in the church is essential. The Apostle Paul explains this so well to the Roman Church. Romans 12:3-8, “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. ⁴For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, ⁵so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. ⁶Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; ⁷if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; ⁸the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.”

Satan Wants to Destroy Jesus Christ Who Triumphed Over Him

Satan is trying to defeat the Church because it represents the body of Christ. Satan can’t destroy Jesus because He is seated at the right hand of God the Father, so Satan is working to destroy the Church instead. The Believers of Jesus Christ bear the image of Jesus. 1Corinthians 15:49 shows us, “Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.” Jesus bears the image of God. Colossians 1:15 explains, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” Satan hates God and everything God created. He wants to destroy all that God created (John 10:10). Christian believers are his number one target, so we need to be prepared and learn how to use the armor that God provided for us. Read my series of posts on how to use the armor of God to be victorious. SPIRITUAL WARFARE POSTS

I would love to hear from you, please leave a comment.

God Bless you,

Joyce

RELATED POSTS

Love From a Pure Heart

Why Go to Church?

How The Church Prepares You to Meet God

Getting The Most Out of Church

WINNING THE WAR AGAINST THE CHURCH

Jesus’s Final Message to The Seven Churches

All verses are from the English Standard Bible. If you find my posts and website helpful, please share the links with your friends and family, hopeforcompletehealing.com. The information is copyright protected, and no part of the posts or my book may be reproduced without proper citation to Joyce Hanscom.

Check out my first book on Amazon. I would love to hear what you think.

Contact me at hopeforcompletehealing@gmail.com, and ask for a PDF of Eight Prayers from the Bible. The prayers are for the Spirit of wisdom, renewal, spiritual strength, knowledge of His will, virtues of God, non-believers, 23rd Psalm, and victory. I will also send you the Lord’s Prayer Model to pray effectively. Please leave your name, so I know you are a real person making the request.

Jesus’s Final Message to The Seven Churches

Do we only have to believe to inherit eternal life? What about those people who believe but do not repent of their sinful life? Will they get to heaven? What does God say? You first must believe and accept forgiveness for your sins, but God’s instructions are clear; we need to seek Him and do what He commands with our whole heart (Ps. 119:10, 34, 69)? Many distractions keep us from seeking God and obeying Him with our whole hearts. So, we first must ask God to show us what they are and then repent. In my life, resentments kept me from obeying God with my whole heart. Other people may be distracted by worldly enticements that draw them away from complete devotion to God. Often we do not make it a priority to please God and bring Him glory. Jesus addresses all these and more in His final word to the seven churches.

Jesus’s final words to the seven churches give us a glimpse of what will be ours if we overcome our sin and Satan’s temptations. The reoccurring theme is to conquer. According to Webster’s dictionary, conquer means getting possession or control of by winning a war. What did the churches need to conquer? What do we need to conquer? For one thing, never forget we are in a perpetual war with the devil who wants to steal, kill, and destroy us. Too often, we forget or ignore this fact to our peril. The following scriptures should put the fear of God in our lives and encourage us to stay in the battle to conquer our spiritual enemy.

To the Church in Ephesus

Rev 2:4, 7, “But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. ⁷ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.”

To the Church in Smyrna

Rev 2:10-11, “Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days, you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. ¹¹ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.”

To the Church in Pergamum

Rev 2:17, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.”

To the Church in Thyatira

Rev 2:26-28, “The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. ²⁸ And I will give him the morning star.”

To the Church in Sardis

Rev 3:5, “The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.”

To the Church in Philadelphia

Rev 3:10-12, “Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth. ¹¹ I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. ¹² The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.”

To the Church in Laodicea

Rev 3:15-16,21,” ‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! ¹⁶ So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. ²¹ The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.”

Conclusion

Are you aware of the spiritual warfare all around you and the need to conquer it? I wrote a series of posts on spiritual warfare that are found in SPIRITUAL WARFARE POSTS. I hope you are as encourage as I am to continue to fight because once we conquer one battle, we will have another. Jesus will help us. Heb 12:1-4 states, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. ⁴ In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.” NEVER GIVE UP; KEEP LOOKING UP.

All verses are from the English Standard Bible unless otherwise indicated. If you find my posts and website helpful, please share the links with your friends and family, hopeforcompletehealing.com. The information is copyright protected. No part of the posts or my book may be reproduced without proper citation to Joyce Hanscom and this website.

Check out my latest book Breaking Mental Strongholds which you can order on Amazon. To learn more about it, read my post called Breaking Mental Strongholds Book. Also, check out Fighting Unseen Battles on Amazon. To learn more about this book, read: How to Fight Unseen Battles.

Contact me at hopeforcompletehealing@gmail.com, and ask for a PDF of Eight Prayers from the Bible. The prayers are for the Spirit of wisdom, renewal, spiritual strength, knowledge of His will, virtues of God, salvation for non-believers, 23rd Psalm, and victory. Please leave your name, so I know you are a person making the request.

HOW TO STAND FIRM AGAINST AN UNSEEN ENEMY

What does it mean to stand firm against an unseen enemy? Who is my unseen enemy? Ephesians 6:10-13 states, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.” You cannot withstand against evil spirits in your own strength. Many of the girls in my County Jail Bible study say they are determined not to return to drugs and alcohol. But sadly, those who did not commit their lives to God and rely on Him for strength return several months later. The devil is always seeking to tempt us to depend on ourselves or an idol instead of God.

How We Have Strength To Stand Firm

Memorize Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” God strengthens those who abide in Him as a branch abides in the vine and receives strength from the vine. John 15:5 states, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” We stay connected to the Spirit of God (the vine) through praying, praising, and pondering scripture. To abide means to stand fast, remain, dwell, or remain attached to something. Abiding with God includes memorizing Scripture passages, praying about everything with thanksgiving, and loving Him and others by serving them (Gal. 5:13-14 and Deut. 11:13).

It is worth repeating; the devil’s strategy is to separate you from God, who is your strength. The devil used this strategy when he tempted both Eve and Jesus, and he hasn’t changed. Eve did not take the tempting thought captive to disobey God, and humanity is still suffering the consequences. Jesus was victorious over the devil’s lies by taking the tempting thoughts captive and using Scripture to defeat the devil. Because Jesus defeated the devil and did not sin, now we can enjoy the benefit of life through righteousness in Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:11).

The more Biblical truth you know, the stronger spiritually you will be. For example, Satan puts a deceptive thought into your mind that you are weak, and God won’t help you. What do you do? You can believe the lie and live a defeated life. Or you can command the lie to be gone from your mind in Jesus’ name and speak the truth that you can do all things through Christ, who is your strength (Philippians 4:13). I can’t possibly list all the lies the devil will put into your mind. But if you memorize the truths in God’s Word, you will recognize the lies of the enemy.

Examples of God’s Power in The Old Testament

Exodus 14:13 states, “And Moses said to the people, ‘Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.’” Fear causes you to run away to escape a threat. No matter what you are facing now or are going to face, God is bigger and can work a miracle in your life, but you must stand firm in His strength and on His truth.

Another great Old Testament example is the story of King Jehoshaphat, who was outnumbered by his enemy. He humbles himself before God and seeks His help. God tells Jehoshaphat in 2Choronicles 20:17, “You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow, go out against them, and the LORD will be with you.” I don’t know what battles you are facing or will face, but I know God is for you, not against you. I memorized Isaiah 41:10, which states, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” I spoke this truth out when I was going through a tremendous battle at a previous job. Reminding myself of God’s truth helps me stand firm against the unseen attacks of the unseen enemy.

How to Stand Firm

1Corinthians 16:13 states, “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.” 1Corinthians 1:24b also tells us to stand firm in our faith. We grow stronger in our faith when we read God’s Word (Rom. 10:17). You can’t stand firm against the unseen battles of temptations and deceptions without the knowledge of the truth. The belt of truth and the rest of the armor of God help you stand firm in your faith. Ephesians 6:13 states, “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.” But you have to put it on every day through prayer. See the post called PUTTING ON THE ARMOR OF GOD PRAYER MODEL.

Galatians 5:1 states, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” The devil does not want us to be free from our passions, immoral and impure thoughts, greed, coveting, anger, etc. He wants to keep us in bondage to our sin, but we are to stand firm by submitting to God, not the devil’s temptations and lies. James 4:7 states, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Read my post HOW TO DESTROY THE DEVIL’S WORK IN YOUR LIFE to know how to stand up to the devil and make him run.

Conclusion

This following Scripture passage clarifies what the devil does and what we need to do not to get devoured. 1Peter 5:8-9a states, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith.” Many Christians do not resist and are defeated by the unseen enemy. If you are a victim of the devil and allowed him to put you in bondage again, Jesus wants to set you free again, look up and pray for His help and strength to get out of the pit. Psalm 40:2 states, “He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.” Memorize all the Scripture verses in this post so you can remind yourself to be watchful and to resist the wrong thoughts the devil puts in your mind and stand firm in your faith.

All verses are from the English Standard Version. If you find my posts and website helpful, please share this link with your friends and family: hopeforcompletehealing.com. The information is copyright protected. Please do not reproduce any part of the posts or my book without proper citation to Joyce Hanscom and this website.

My latest book is Unlocking God’s Promises, which explains 18 categories of promises that are relevant to each of our lives. It also includes the promises in Psalm 91.

If you find this website helpful, you would like to read Breaking Mental Strongholds, which expands on my website book and includes many of my posts.

Additionally, consider my book Fighting Unseen Battles, which describes the many unhealthy beliefs that control our lives and what the truths are. To learn more about this book, read the post How to Fight Unseen Battles.

Contact me at hopeforcompletehealing@gmail.com, and ask for a PDF of Eight Prayers from the Bible. The prayers are for the Spirit of wisdom, renewal, spiritual strength, knowledge of His will, virtues of God, salvation for non-believers, 23rd Psalm, and victory. Please leave your name, so I know you are a real person making the request.

Image by Lorraine Cormier from Pixabay

Spiritual Warfare 8: MEMORIZE TO STRENGTHEN YOUR ARMOR AND FIGHT EFFECTIVELY

Do you wish you knew more Bible verses by memory? Do you struggle with remembering Scripture verses? In this post, I explain why memorizing is essential, how to improve your memory, and how to practice and recall what you have learned.

Why should I memorize Scripture?

The armor of God is useless without having an arsenal of Bible verses memorized.
Jesus used Scripture to overcome the devil’s temptations in the wilderness (Matt. 4), and that is the only way we will overcome temptations too.
Never forget that we are always in a spiritual war, whether or not we know it.
Memorizing Scripture makes us stronger and encourages spiritual growth.
It allows you to have gospel truths ready at all times, whether your day brings you temptation, heartache, or a friend in need of encouragement.
You can experience God’s perfect peace by having His promises written on your heart and ready to claim.
Memorized Scripture helps you be victorious over sin and all the devil’s attacks. Psalm 119:11 states, “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”
Scripture memory will also help you gain confidence in witnessing.

Put off the “I Can’t Memorize” Myth

If you believe the lie that you can’t memorize or remember anything, take those wrong thoughts captive and put them out of your mind and heart in Jesus’ name. Our words have the power to create new thoughts and beliefs. Isaiah 42:9 states, “Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare [speak]; before they spring forth [happen], I tell you of them.” Speak out loud and bind in the truth that you can do all things through Christ (Phil. 4:13) and that you have the mind of Christ (1Cor. 2:16b) and can memorize and remember scriptural truths.

Put Off the “I don’t have time” Myth

You may think that this is a lot of work, and you don’t have the time. Guess what? I bet you don’t have the time to exercise either. To stop making this myth a reality, loose from your mind the wrong thoughts that you do not have time to memorize or exercise. Next, bind into your mind the truth that memorizing scripture is essential for spiritual health and strength. Also, memorized Bible verses will help me win the unseen battles with the temptation and deceptive thoughts the demonic world entices me to believe. Bind in the truth that just as physical exercise is essential for a healthy, strong mind and body, memorizing scripture makes you stronger spiritually. I combined memorizing and exercising because I am a kinesthetic learner. 1Timothy 4:7-8 (NIV) states, “Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives tales; rather train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”

You can walk 30-45 minutes each day and memorize scripture as you walk. If I don’t walk that day, then I made a reading stand out of cardboard for my elliptical machine to memorize scripture while I work out. I am confident that you can come up with many other combinations. You can also download the Bible to your MP3 player, iPod, or cell phone and then listen to the scriptures. Hit pause to recite what you just heard, and rewind to hear the verse or verse chunk again until you can recite it perfectly (or near perfectly). You can listen to the scripture while driving, doing chores, or exercising.

Practice the scriptural principles you have memorized

Practice doing and sharing what you memorized to reinforce long-term memory. The following scriptures instruct us to practice the Word of God. Meditate on each verse.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever! –Psalms 111:10

Practice these things, immerse yourself in them so that all may see your progress. –1Timothy 4:15

But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. –Hebrews 5:14

For if you practice these qualities [faith, moral excellence (virtue), knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love] you will never fall [stumble].” –1Peter 1:10

If we say we have fellowship with Him [Jesus] while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. –1John 1:6

But whoever does what is true [practices the truth; or lives by the truth] comes to the Light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God. –John 3:21

The more you practice something, the better you become at it. For example, I had a problem of complaining, so I memorized Philippians 4:8 and 1Thessalonians 5:16-18. When I wanted to get upset and complain, I would recall and practice these principles to resist the temptation to be irritated and speak destructive words. But these verses are useless if I do not practice capturing my negative thoughts before they go into my heart and come out of my mouth. Memorizing scripture is not beneficial until you practice what you have internalized and transform wrong thoughts, attitudes, or behaviors. Ephesians 4:22-24 states, “To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” We also purify our souls when we obey and practice the truth as described in 1Peter 1:22a, which states, “Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth.” Because 1Peter 2:11 states, “Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.”

First, pray and ask God to help you hide His Word in your heart, so you don’t forget it.

Repetition is the key to retaining the verse in long-term memory. Small steps of obedience can make a significant impact. Try the following to help you mentally internalize the Word of God.

Write the verse on a whiteboard or type it on the computer, then eliminate words until you can write, type, or recall it from memory five to ten times.
Carry your verse(s) with you. When you are waiting in line or at a red light, go over and recite your verse or verses.
Turn it into a song.
Turn it into a prayer.
Draw a picture or a series of images to represent the verse.

Psalm 91:9-12

Memorize in phrases and associate a picture that depicts the expression.
Write the verses on index cards and make each phrase a different color. Post these around your house in places you go most (your bed, above your light switch, your bathroom mirror, etc.)

How to Begin

I like to memorize a chapter at a time, and Psalm 91 was the first chapter I learned. I still remember it because I turned it into a prayer and made a picture board like the one above. I also recite it often. To create my memorization list, I first went to Biblegateway.com, selected the Bible version, and searched for the scripture I wanted to memorize. Next, I copied and pasted it into a “Word” document. I found it easier to break up the scripture in verse chunks, and then after each chunk, include some keywords from each verse that would trigger my memory. The following are two examples I use.

Christ Is Our Example—1 Peter 2

²¹For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps,

²²who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth;

²³and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously;

²⁴and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds, you were healed.

²⁵For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.

²¹-called-purpose-suffered-example-follow,
²²-sin-deceit-mouth
²³-reviled-suffering-entrusting-judges
²⁴– bore-cross-die-live-healed
²⁵-straying-Shepherd-souls

OR you can do the following, which also works well.

1 Peter 4:8-12

⁸To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit;

⁹not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing.

¹⁰For, “The one who desires life, to love and see good days, must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit.
¹¹“He must turn away from evil and do good; He must seek peace and pursue it.
¹²“For the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous, and His ears attend to their prayer, But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

⁸To sum up, a o y b har, sym, bro, kin, a hu i sp;
⁹not returning evil f ev o in f in, b gi a bl ins; f y we ca f t v pur th y mi in a bl.
¹⁰For, “The one w de li t lo a s go da, mu ke h to fr ev a h li fr sp de.
¹¹He must turn aw fr ev a d go; H m se pe a pu i.
¹²For the eyes o t L a to t ri, a H ea at t th pr, B t fa o t L i ag th w d ev.”

Repetition is the key to recall. I would repeat each section until I could recite the verses without looking at the aids. The next day I would again recite the same verses before memorizing the next set of verses. I also found it helpful to say the verses backward. It was also beneficial to review the Scripture memorized earlier that day before going to bed and then meditating on them until I went to sleep. In doing this, you are meditating on scripture day and night, just as King David recommends in Psalm 1:2-3 states, “But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.”

What I Learned From Researching Other Memorizing Methods

From https://seedtime.com/memorize-bible-verses/. Not everyone memorizes things the same, but if you’re curious to know how I was able to memorize 500 verses a year, this is it:

Work on one verse at a time – not multiple verses.
Read the verse aloud 20 times – don’t rush through this part.
Read the verse aloud once, then speak the verse once from memory (10 times).
Quote the verse without mistakes 5 times in a row. Once you can do this, move to the next verse.
When you think you have it down, recite the verse(s) for your family and friends!

Sometimes going through the process would take 15 minutes per verse; other times, it would be about 20 minutes per verse. It’s not about spending a certain number of minutes – it’s about repetition and using your eyes, ears, and voice to get each verse down.

From https://www.navigators.org/resource/how-to-memorize-scripture/. Many thousands of people have shared that this system was what finally worked for them after years of trying other approaches. It has been curated by The Navigators based on experience helping people of all ages grow in Christ since the 1930s.

4 Steps to Memorizing More Scripture

Step 1: Pick an area of gospel truth you’re motivated to understand more deeply

Step 2: Dig into the context

Find the verse in your Bible and read the paragraph before and after it.
Use this context to gain a clear understanding of what the verse means. You may want to read the verse in other Bible translations or consult a commentary.
Read the verse through several times thoughtfully, aloud or in a whisper. This will help you grasp the verse as a whole. Each time you read it, say the topic, reference, verse, and then the reference again out loud.
Discuss the verse with God in prayer, and ask for His help memorizing Scripture.

Step 3: Memorize in bite-sized pieces

Memorize the topic and reference first.
Next, memorize only the first phrase of the verse. Once you can recite the topic, reference and first phrase from memory several times, continue to add each additional phrase, one by one.
Consider why each word was selected as you memorize it.
Think about ways the verse applies to you and your daily circumstances.
Writing the verse out can be helpful. This deepens its impression in your mind.

Step 4: Review with friends

Review the verse immediately after learning it, incorporate it into your prayers, and repeat it frequently over subsequent days to others. This step is crucial for fixing the verse firmly in your mind because we tend to forget things recently learned.
Invite a friend to memorize with you! Set a time each week to check-in and review verses. In just ten minutes, you can give each other enough accountability to grow by leaps and bounds in your love for God and knowledge of His Word.
Review! Review! Review! Repetition is the best way to engrave the verses on your memory.

Contact me at hopeforcompletehealing@gmail.com, and ask for a PDF for the Psalm 91 picture memorizing form. Please leave your name, so I know you are a real person making the request.

Check out my first book on Amazon. I would love to hear what you think.

If you read my book and find it helpful, please leave a review. Also, if you want to do a Bible study with it, email me and ask for a free PDF of the leader’s guide. The PDF will have suggested discussion questions after each section. Quick links to all the scriptures in the endnotes for you to review or to copy and paste into your notes. Website links to review supporting material. Contact me at hopeforcompletehealing@gmail.com

Spiritual Warfare 7: HOW TO MAKE PRAYER YOUR AROUND-THE-CLOCK SECURITY GUARD

Since evil spirits are invisible, wouldn’t it be great to have an invisible around-the-clock guard who can warn you of a spiritual attack and protect you? Ephesians 6:18 states, “Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication [requests] for all the saints.” Prayer is a forgotten part of God’s armor, but it is essential for using the rest of the armor because that is where spiritual warfare is fought.

When you pray, you become connected to the Spirit of God, called the Holy Spirit, who lives in your soul/heart. The Holy Spirit can see the evil spirits attack and warn you and then help you be victorious when you have the armor of God on. Prayer is how we draw strength from God and rely on Him to protect us. Praying is the key that “activates” the armor. When you don’t rely on God through prayer, you will lose every spiritual battle. I have written many posts on prayer, which you can find in Posts about Prayer.

Unanswered prayer is a spiritual battle we all face. Because evil spirits know that prayer is powerful and connects us to God’s power and the Holy Spirit’s guidance. Therefore, they will put doubts, distractions, and deceptions into your mind to keep you from praying. So, we need to be alert. 1Peter 5:8 states, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” He mainly attacks our minds through deception and temptations, which I covered in the last nine spiritual warfare posts.

I. How do you pray constantly?

Ephesians 6:18 states, “Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication [requests] for all the saints.” I believe praying at all times means always being mindful to turn every thought into prayer. For example, if you see an ambulance, pray for the paramedics and the injured or sick in the ambulance. If someone cuts you off on the highway, pray a blessing of safe travel for them. As you look at the people you walk by, intercede for them. In 1 Thessalonians 5:17, the Apostle Paul encourages us to “pray without ceasing.” And Romans 12:12 states we are to “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” So if I think about someone, I will pray for them at that moment. I immediately turn my concerns over to God instead of thinking about them and being tempted to be anxious. When I am having trouble with something, I seek God for help and guidance. If I am tempted to be angry, I ask God to take the anger from my heart and give me peace. When I walk by my refrigerator and see the missionary pictures, I will pray for them as I go about my kitchen tasks. And so on.

II. What do you think it means to “pray at all times in the Spirit”?

There are several ideas about what it means to pray in the Spirit. One scholar said, that “praying in the spirit means to be directed by the spirit to pray for certain things and for certain people.¹” Albert Barnes said in his commentary that “praying in the Spirit is to pray with His aid.” Romans 8:26 states, “Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”

Those in the charismatic circle say praying in the spirit means we pray in “tongues” (a spiritual language). The book of Acts explains how people spoke in tongues, a few places are in Acts 2:4, 2:38, 19:6. 1Corinthians 14:1-2 states, “Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit.” 1Corinthians 14:14 states, “For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful.”

We receive the Holy Spirit of God the moment we put our faith in Jesus to be our Lord and Savior. Some biblical scholars say you can have another “baptism/filling of the Spirit” as a separate event given as a gift from God when we ask for it (Luke 11:13). Regardless of what terminology you use, there seem to be separate Holy Spirit infilling events, which causes controversies in some churches.

III. What does it mean to be alert in prayer?

We are to stay alert through prayer because prayer is our guard that protects our thinking. After all, that is where we fight the spiritual war (2Cor. 11:3). When we are not praying, our guard is down, and we become vulnerable to Satan’s unseen attacks. Even Jesus often went alone up into the hills or some other desolate place to pray (Luke 5:16). He knew He needed to commune with His Father.

We, too, need the help of God our Father in heaven to fight against Satan and all the demonic forces of darkness. 2Corinthians 10:4-5 states, “For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to obey Christ.” The weapons of our warfare are God’s armor and His power through the spoken word. My short book on this website explains how to use prayer to destroy wrong thinking, false beliefs, and strongholds. DISCOVER A NEW REALITY.

We can talk to God about anything; besides, He knows everything and is always with us (Ps. 94:11, 139:2-4). God wants us to make requests because He wants to answer our prayers. Isaiah 65:24 states, “Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking, I will hear.”

IV. What do you think it means to “keep alert with all perseverance, making supplications [requests] for all the saints?”

First, to “keep alert” means to watch for opportunities. Second, “with all perseverance” means never becoming discouraged or disheartened and not growing weary of making requests for others. Third, “saints” are those who are the children of God. The following Scriptures call believers in Jesus Christ saints: Ephesians 1:1; 1 Corinthians 1:2; Philippians 1:1; and Colossians 1:2.

Prayer also involves worship and thankfulness for all God has blessed us with, or thankfulness for the various truths and promises found in the Bible. Praying at all times is easy when you abide in Jesus Christ (John 15) by letting your mind dwell on Him and not on things of the earth. Note, we do not have to be perfect for God to answer our prayers. We need to humble ourselves by abiding (remain in and dwell) through prayer in the heavenly place with Christ and in the Word of God.

2 Chronicles 7:14 states, “If My people who are called by My name humble themselves, and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

Conclusion

Most people are told to set aside time for prayer every day, which is a good practice. Jesus took time for prayer. But praying all the time is a different discipline. Though both prayer methods require mental discipline. I can’t stress enough that through prayer, you stay connected to God, who is your refuge in times of trouble and will protect you from the evil one (2Thes. 3:3). Psalm 91:9-10 states, “Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place—the Most High, who is my refuge—no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent [dwelling].” When you pray continually, you are dwelling with your Lord.

Footnotes:

McDonald, William. (1995) Believers Bible Commentary

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Contact me at hopeforcompletehealing@gmail.com, and ask for a PDF of Eight Prayers from the Bible. The prayers are for the Spirit of wisdom, renewal, spiritual strength, knowledge of His will, virtues of God, salvation for non-believers, 23rd Psalm, and victory. Please leave your name, so I know you are a real person making the request.