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Satan And Your Thoughts
Can
the Devil Read Your Mind and Know Your Thoughts?
by Mary Fairchild
"Submit yourselves therefore to
God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." (James 4:7, ESV)
Can Satan read
your mind? Does the Devil know what you're thinking?
Let's find out what the Bible says about
Satan's ability to know your thoughts.
Can
Satan Read Our Minds? The Short Answer
While we learn in Scripture that Satan is
powerful and influential, he is not all-knowing, or omniscient. Only God has
the ability to know all things.
Furthermore, there are no examples in
the Bible of
Satan reading someone's mind.
The
Long Answer
Satan and his demons are fallen angels (Revelation 12:7-10).
In
Ephesians 2:2, Satan is called "the prince of the power of the
air."
So, the devil and his demons do have power — the
same power given to angels.
In Genesis 19, angels struck men with
blindness.
In
Daniel 6:22, we read, "My God sent his angel and shut the lions'
mouths, and they have not harmed me."
And angels can fly (Daniel 9:21, Revelation 14:6).
But no angel or demon has ever been depicted
in Scripture with mind reading abilities.
In fact, the encounters between God and Satan
in the beginning chapters of the book of Job, strongly indicate that Satan cannot read the thoughts and
minds of humans.
If Satan had known the mind and heart of Job,
he'd have known that Job would never curse God.
Understand, however, while Satan cannot read
our minds, he does have an advantage.
He has been observing humans and human nature
for thousands of years. This fact is evidenced in the book of Job as well:
"One
day the members of the heavenly court came to present themselves before the
Lord, and the Accuser, Satan, came with them. 'Where have you come from?' the
Lord asked Satan. Satan answered the Lord, 'I have been patrolling the earth,
watching everything that's going on.'" (Job
1:6-7, NLT)
You might even say that Satan and his demons
are experts in human behavior.
Satan certainly has a fairly good idea how we will
react to temptation, after all, he has been tempting humans since the Garden of Eden.
Through ceaseless observation and long
experience, Satan and his demons can usually guess with a high degree of
accuracy just what we are thinking.
Know
Your Enemy
So, as believers it's important that we get to
know our enemy and become wise to Satan's schemes:
"Be
sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a
roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." (1 Peter 5:8, ESV)
Know that Satan is a master of deception:
"He
[Satan] was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth,
because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own
character, for he is a liar and the father of lies." (John 8:44, ESV)
And know, too, that with God's help and
the Holy Spirit's power, we can fend off Satan's lies:
"Submit
yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." (James 4:7, ESV)
Mary
Fairchild
Introduction
Christian
minister since 1988 with General Biblical Studies and Missions degrees
Full-time
writer and editor specializing in Christianity, Bible study, and Christian
living since 2005
Author
and general editor of "Stories of Calvary"
Experience
Mary
Fairchild has worked full time in Christian ministry since 1988. While in Bible
School, she worked for a major city church as the assistant to the dean of
Christian education. Next, Mary served on the foreign mission field in Brazil
from 1990-1994. Upon returning to the States, Mary became a pastoral assistant
and office manager for a large intercity church.
Mary
worked as the general editor on several Christian books and booklets for
Calvary Chapel St. Petersburg from 2006 until 2017. Recently, Mary joined the
team of writers for GotQuestions.org, where she provides responses to questions
related to the nature of God, the Scriptures, salvation, and other spiritual
topics.
Education
Mary
received a General Biblical Studies degree from an Interdenominational
Christian Training Center in Central Florida. She also holds a Missions degree
from Youth With A Mission Discipleship Training School.
Publications
"Stories
of Calvary" (2008, Winepress Publishing)
"Exposing
Samson" (General Editor, 2009, Calvary Chapel St. Petersburg)
A
Message from Mary Fairchild
As a
writer, my greatest passion is to study and expound on the Word of God. I’ve
made it my goal to offer practical, applicable resources for living the
Christian faith with authenticity in today's world. Inspired by the words of
the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:12, I’ve adopted this purpose: "Follow
my example, as I follow the example of Christ."
Learn
Religions and Dotdash
Our
mission at Learn Religions is to help you explore the practices of your own
faith, understand your neighbor’s beliefs, and familiarize yourself with the
world’s major religions — regardless of your own spiritual background.
Learn
Religions is part of the Dotdash family.
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more than 20 years, Dotdash brands have been helping people find answers, solve
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Year by Digiday, a leading industry publication.
https://www.learnreligions.com/can-satan-read-your-mind-700667
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