CBD Prayer Groups (8 June 2010)

When Satan Comes Knocking

(Dr. Robert Jeffress)

Pathway to Victory

When Satan comes against your mind with wrong thoughts, you don’t have to concede defeat. Use these practical
actions to confront loose thoughts by securing them with the belt of truth (Ephesians 6:14).

Action 1: Refuse to feel guilty for wrong thoughts

Imagine you are awakened at 3 a.m. by someone pounding on your front door. More than likely, before you open the
door, you’ll look through the peephole to see who is causing the commotion. If it were a neighbor, a friend, or a family
member, you would probably open the door and invite him in. However, if it were a stranger wearing a ski mask and
carrying a pistol, you would hopefully refuse them entry.

If you were certain the person seeking entry into your home intended to harm you, would you feel guilty over his
wanting to assault you? Would you lament to yourself, What is wrong with me that would cause this person to want to
hurt me? No, you would call the police immediately to apprehend the would-be assailant.

We are not always responsible for the harmful thoughts that come knocking on the doors of our minds. Although
allowing outside stimuli such as certain TV programs, reading material, or internet sites to fill our minds can incite
thoughts of immorality or greed, we are not always to blame for the first assault of these ideas. If you were stranded on
a deserted island, you would still battle against wrong thoughts.

How do I know that? Consider Jesus’ experience in the wilderness immediately following His baptism. For 40 days
Christ was completely isolated. No other people, no newspapers, no e-mail. Yet during those 40 days, Jesus was
tempted with thoughts of discontent, greed, and pride.

“Since God hasn’t provided you with what you need to survive, turn these stones into bread.”

“You don’t need to wait to reign over the kingdoms of the world; they can be yours now if you are willing to worship
me.”

“You don’t need to follow God’s timetable. Demonstrate you are the Messiah now! Put on a spiritual circus to
demonstrate you are the Son of God.”

Where did these thoughts originate? “The devil said to Him” (Luke 4:3) — nowhere in the biblical account of Jesus’
temptation does Luke record that the devil appeared to Jesus. Possibly, Satan spoke to the Lord the same way he
often communicates with us: through the mind.

Yet did these ungodly thoughts make Jesus a sinner? Of course not! He remained the perfect Lamb of God whose
blamelessness qualified Him to be our Savior. If you and I are going to win the mind games, we need to first stop
feeling guilty when evil thoughts invade our lives and, instead, learn how to deal with those unwelcome intrusions.

Action 2: Refuse to allow wrong thoughts to linger

If we entertain and embellish wrong thoughts for any period of time, those ideas have a way of transforming into
obsessions. These, in turn, result in overt actions or attitudes of disobedience. Pastor and author Charles Stanley
vividly demonstrates:

“The initial thoughts the devil sends to us may be just a toehold the first time we entertain those thoughts and dwell on
them or fantasize about them. The longer we entertain the thoughts, however, the more likely we are to start making
mental plans about how we might act on them.

“It is then the toehold of an idea becomes a foothold. The more we develop plans for acting on a sinful idea or
temptation, the more we find that the foothold has become a stronghold. We come to the place where we feel
compelled to try out the idea in our behavior. We come to the place where we want to act on that idea more than we
want to banish the idea.”

When we reach that point, we are in trouble. How can we prevent our thoughts from turning into strongholds for the
devil?

Action 3: Recognize and replace wrong thoughts with God’s thoughts

My analogy concerning a burglar attempting entry into your home is flawed in one respect. While we may be
successful in preventing an intruder from coming into our home, we cannot keep unwanted thoughts out of our minds.
The fact that we are thinking about something means that the alien idea has already gained entry.

Nevertheless, we do not need to allow the intruder to sit down in our favorite chair, engage us in an extended
conversation, and announce that since he has been so welcomed, he is taking up residence in our spare bedroom!
Instead, we need to follow the Apostle Paul’s advice for dealing with an undesirable guest:

“We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking
every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).

Remembering the words recognize and replace will help you seize control over wrong thoughts. Use the questions we
discussed previously to help recognize whether or not a thought could have satanic origin.

Is this thought true? Does this thought motivate me to fear more or to trust God more? Does this thought contradict
God’s Word?

But know that simply labeling a thought as harmful and attempting to dismiss it from your mind is not enough. In fact,
the more you try to reject an unwanted thought, the more you will find yourself obsessing over it.

To dismiss Satan’s thoughts we must replace them with God’s thoughts, just as Jesus did.

When Satan attempted to plant seeds of discontent, Jesus responded by quoting a verse from the Old Testament.
“Man shall not live on bread alone” (Luke 4:4).

When Satan enticed the Lord with thoughts of power and riches, Jesus recited God’s greatest commandment: “You
shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only” (Luke 4:8).

When Satan tempted Jesus to act independently from God, the Lord quoted: “You shall not put the lord your God to
the test” (Luke 4:12).

Jesus understood that the best way to dismiss an unwelcome thought is to replace it with another, more-powerful
thought. The best way to dispel darkness is to confront it with light!

When fearful thoughts try to seize control of your life, you can replace those thoughts with, “God hath not given us the
spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7, KJV).

When you are tempted with thoughts of discontent, you can replace those thoughts with, “We have brought nothing
into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content”
(1 Timothy 6:7-8).

When you are tempted by fantasies of sex with someone other than your mate, you can replace those thoughts with,
“The one who commits adultery with a woman is lacking sense; he who would destroy himself does it” (Proverbs 6:32).

I believe it is this process Paul has in mind when he encourages us to gird our loins with truth (Ephesians 6:14). Our
success in spiritual battle depends on confronting any loose thoughts with the truth of God’s Word.

Adapted from The Divine Defense by Robert Jeffress, Waterbrook Press, 2006). Used with permission.
 PRAYER GROUPS DETAILS

Raffles Place Prayer Group

 Prayer Meeting on Wednesday, 9 June 10 at 12.30 pm
 Meet at OCBC Centre South, Recreation Centre, Karaoke Room
 Contact Alexandra Wee @ 9834 2468 (awee@cambridgeassociates.com) / Serene Ang
@ 9451 1860 (Serene.Ang@rbscoutts.com)

City Hall Prayer Group

 Prayer Meeting on Wednesday, 9 June 10 at 12.45 pm
 Meet at Sky Garden, Suntec City
 Contact Huishan @ 9651 3426 (hsteo@msc-asia.com) / Kathleen Yee @ 9850 4798
(Katheleen.Yee@pc-tn.com)

Tanjong Pagar Prayer Group

 Prayer Meeting on Thursday, 10 June 10 at 12.45 pm.
 Meet at Telok Ayer Chinese Methodist Church, Ground Floor
 Contact Chew Qi @ 98334365 (Chew.Qi@UOBgroup.com)

Orchard / Somerset Prayer Group

 Prayer Meeting on Wednesday, 9 June 10 at 12.30 pm
 Meet at Chatzone @ SingTel lobby
 Contact Ezel Ting @ 96716560 (ezelting@singtel.com)

Harbourfront Prayer Group

 Prayer Meeting on Wednesday, 9 June 10 at 12.30 pm
 Meet at Vivocity, Level 3, Amphitheatre (outdoor area outside Food Republic)
 Contact Victoria Lim (Victoria.Lim@sgp.dupont.com)

Toa Payoh North Prayer Group (SPH)

 Prayer Meeting on Tuesday, 15 June 10 at 1.00 – 2.00pm.
 Meet at 5th Floor Corner SPH News Centre, 1000 Toa Payoh North
 Contact Hannah Teoh (hteoh@sph.com.sg)