Hello dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I am still working on the Bible study of "Jesus soon return" and will be sending installment number two in a few days. But today I wanted to send out a different Bible study.
Over the past couple of days I've had two dear friends ask me if Satan can read our minds and if an unspoken prayer request is Biblical, so I thought I would add to a Bible study I did last year on the subject of Satan being able to read our mind.
Can Satan Read Our Minds and are unspoken prayer request Biblical?
I pray you will read and study this with an open heart and an open Bible.
“O LORD, you have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; you understand my thoughts afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O LORD, you know it all.” Ps.139: 1-4
2 Chronicles 6:30 "...then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling-place and forgive, and render unto every man according to all his ways, whose heart thou knowest (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of the children of men)..."
According to the above verse only God knows our heart and can read our mind. Therefore, we can be at peace in knowing God will never misunderstand us. He knows us better than we know ourselves. Since God knows us better than we know ourselves we can rest assured He works out His will for us based on what is best for us through His knowledge of our inner self (who we really are).
I can not find anywhere in the Bible that Satan can read our minds. Therefore, Satan can not know our silent prayers and, personally, I enjoy talking with our Father in silent prayers.
However, we must remember how intelligent Satan is and he knows us better than we know ourselves. He's had thousands of years to perfect his way of handling Christians - that's why Paul tells us to put on the Whole Armor of God and we need to do it every day, amen? I have to do it every day or I'll get caught up in something God wants me to stay out of. LOL
So why do we get all these sinful thoughts if Satan can't put them into our minds? How many secular books/magazines do we read a month? How many secular TV programs do we watch a week? How many secular movies do we watch a month? How much non-Christian music do we listen to on a daily basis?
In opposition, how many times a week do we read our Bible? How often do we pray (talk with God)? How many Christian movies do we watch a month? How many Christian magazines and books do we read a month? How often do we go to a Christian book store? How often do we attend meetings with other Christians?
Answer these questions honestly and we will have answered why we have sinful desires and thoughts to deal with. No, it's not Satan reading our mind and putting things into our mind (which he can not do) - it's our exposure to sinful things!
Listening to secular music, watching secular TV and reading secular books all influence our mind for good, or for evil. If what we're hearing, watching or reading is sinful then we've become a willing participant in sin. It's that simple and yet we get sucked into these things all the time because we somehow believe we can "handle" it. Perhaps we think because some good is in what we watch, read or listen to that makes it okay. However, if there is sin in it... the good won't keep the sin out of our mind.
"The Lord knows those who are His," and, "Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness."' 2 Timothy 2:19
Look, if we're truly wanting to live a life set apart for God and apart from the evil influences of this world then we need to read, watch and listen to Godly things. We need to put away our favorite book if it's not influencing us to live a Godly life. We need to turn off a TV program if it's not influencing us to live for God. We need to stop listening to music that influences our "fleshly" desires to sin. We have to live in the world but we don't have to partake of it's sin! A Christian life is characterized by concerns for the things which concern God. If we're not concerned about the things that concern God then we had better have a change of heart.
God says: "...For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but you have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God." (Rom. 8:16)
"Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which does so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us." ~~ HEBREWS 12:1 ~~
Anything that dims my vision of Christ, or takes away my taste for Bible study, or cramps my prayer life, or makes Christian work difficult, is wrong for me, and I must, as a Christian, turn away from it. ~~ A. Wilbur Chapman ~~
We need to consider David's prayer too:
Now, about unspoken prayer request being Biblical. Do you remember Hannah who prayed silently to God and He answered her prayers?
1 Samuel 1:13 "Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken."
The priest, Eli, thought she was drunk because she wasn't praying aloud.
1 Samuel 1:14 - 16 "And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? put away thy wine from thee. And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I poured out my soul before Jehovah. Count not thy handmaid for a wicked woman; for out of the abundance of my complaint and my provocation have I spoken hitherto."
If you will read the story about Hannah as told in 1 Samuel you will read where God honored her "unspoken" prayer request.
Praying aloud is for a witness to other Christians (and to angels who are watching our spiritual battles) letting them know we trust our Father to answer according to His perfect will for our life.
Isaiah 65:24 "And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear."
What a wonderful and loving God we serve! How blessed we are to know only He can read our minds and know our intentions. Even if man judges us harshly we know God judges us justly with loving intentions. He doesn't judge us by what other people think of us (or even by what we think of ourselves). That's a good thing for those who find it hard to forgive themselves.
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Finishing Up The Bible Study
Although God knows our thoughts, Satan can not know them. Satan hates us and if he could plant thoughts into our mind we would be hopelessly confused and easily overwhelmed all the time. Therefore, rest assured that our desire to sin is from our fleshly nature and not from Satan. If we dwell on sinful thoughts we will soon act them out. Satan influences us by way of the world (TV, magazines, books, movies and the company we keep) "Bad company corrupts good character." 1 Corinthians 15:33 - but Satan can not read our mind nor can he put thoughts into our mind.
Let me quickly reiterate, sometimes we can't help having sinful thoughts (because of everything we're exposed to in this sinful world) but we can control these thoughts and desires. We control sinful thoughts and desires by reading God's word and exercising our trust in God through obedience to His word. In other words, when we have a sinful thought or desire we need to take it to God in prayer. God knows what we're thinking anyway so we need to be honest with Him. Then we need to fill our mind with God's Word (that's why it's important to memorize scripture). We need to keep filling our mind with good thoughts and desires.
"So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh but to live according to the Spirit." Romans 8: 12
"For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God." Romans 8: 1
Every day I'm grateful to be living in the safety of His tender care. My faith grew by way of studying God's word and by way of the things God allowed to happen in my life. Now, when something happens that I consider bad, I try to look to God for what He is going to do with it. Praise His name!
Do you need to make Jesus Lord of your life? Do you need to commit your life to holiness? That is the call of the Holy Spirit upon all believers in the end times — to commit their lives to holiness. And then to yearn, yearn, yearn for the soon return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Listen to these glorious words from 2 Timothy 4 which Paul wrote from prison right at the end of his life: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; and in the future there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.” A special crown, a crown of righteousness will be given to every person who lives his life loving the appearing of the Lord. Will you receive that crown? Are you living your life yearning for the return of the Lord?
My friends, Jesus is coming soon, and I cry from the depths of my heart, “Maranatha!” Come quickly, Lord Jesus!
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"The Lord bless thee, and, keep thee. The Lord make his face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace " ~ Numbers 6:24-26.
In His tender care always,
Dot
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