Three Ways to Put the Devil in Check by Lakisha B.

​In our Spiritual walk with Christ, we will have many wars with our nemesis. Some call him  "The Satan," "The Evil One," "Lucifer," "The Angel of Darkness," and "The Devil." He is a demon who is clever, deceitful, and wants to destroy the most precious relationship you have, your relationship with God.

No matter how much we hate trials the fact of the matter is: trials will come. How we deal with those trails however is a personal choice. Satan will try to dominate the battle but we have some powerful tools that we can use in order to put the devil in check. A few of these "power tools" are the Word, Prayer, and Faith.

Power Tool #1: The Word
When you want to know how to identify a real $100 bill, which one do you study more: the Fake Bill or the Real Bill?
​Answer: You Study the Real One
Reason: The more you study the real bill, the easier it is for you to spot a fake one when it shows up.

Satan will try to get you to do things that don't line up with God's Word but we are not supposed to follow or be obedient to the words of Satan. We are to always be obedient to the Word of God. Jesus said, "My sheep know my voice and another's they will not follow." Satan is such a devil that he even tried to tempt Jesus. Yes, he tried to tempt the Son of God. Very, extremely bold move. Whenever Satan tempted Jesus, he always quoted His Father's Words and he didn't just quote them, he lived by them. As believers we are expected to follow Jesus' example. How do we overcome when Satan tries to put doubts and fears and lies in your head? We block him with the Word of God. Check!

This is why studying the Word of God is so important. It helps us to identify things that do not agree with God's word. It will be hard for us to do the right thing if we don't know what the right thing is. Using the Word is one of the key tools that we should be using in order to put the Devil in check.
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Here are some ways to become well versed in God's Word:

• Practice memorizing scripture.
• Devote a specified time to read your Bible intentionally.
• Bookmark Bible verses that speak to your issues.
• Join a Bible study.
• Download a Bible app that gives daily verses. 

​Remember, you have power through God's Word to give the Devil a Checkmate.

Power Tool #2: Prayer
Prayer is essential to our everyday lives. It's how we communicate with God. We can come to Him and tell Him our struggles. We can ask Him for help to win the fight against our enemies. We can ask him to give us strength. When the going gets tough... the tough get to praying. 

Psalms 18:6 highlights what David did in times of trouble. It says:
"In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.

God is not oblivious to our struggles. When we pray he hears us. God understands our trouble and he will give us the strength we need to endure, to fight, and to overcome. When Jesus was facing death by the Cross. He prayed. This was an even greater temptation than we face today. But he prayed that God's will would be completed (Luke 22:42).

Prayer helps us to focus on God rather than our suffering. If we focus on our problems we will give Satan an upper hand. We will find ourselves anxious, angry, and frustrated. It can cause us to blame God, to turn away from him, or even lead us to take our problems into our own hands. Without prayer the situation becomes worse. We lose out on the peace that God gives us even as we face difficulties.
Satan wants us to be anxious, but God wants us to trust Him. Through our prayer we receive God's direction for how to deal with the things we face in life including how to overcome our nemesis, Satan.

              "In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your path" (Proverbs 3:5).
                                                                  Stay prayerful.

In order to develop a more disciplined prayer life, practice the 3 Meals of Prayer:

1. Prayer for Breakfast - Pray when you first wake up (even before you brush your teeth). You can kneel on the side of your bed (If you have bad knees you can pray in bed or sit in a chair). Be intentional about humbling yourself before God. Thank him for another day of life and ask him for direction for your day.
2. Prayer for Lunch - Take an afternoon break and pray. You'll be surprised at how even 10 minutes of prayer mid-day can be so life giving. I love to take a quick walk to pray even if all I get is 5 minutes. It's refreshing just to spend a little time with Jesus. Sometimes I talk about the things that are happening in my day (happy or frustrating), and at other times I just invite Him to walk with me as I silently listen to His wisdom. It really rejuvenates the soul.
3. Prayer for Dinner - Pray before you go sleep. Thank God for getting you through another day. You survived. Of course we probably made some mistakes along the way (realized or unrealized). So, this is a good place to end your day with a clean conscious and ask God for forgiveness. It's a good place to ask God to give you restful sleep and to guard over you. It's also good to pray for others that come to mind. You can end your prayer with confidence thanking God the he knows all, sees all, and is all powerful. He hears you and will answer your prayers.

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​Power Tool #3: Faith
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. (Heb. 11:6)
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There are four points that this scripture brings out:

1. We cannot please God without faith.
2. Faith is about believing that God exist even though we cannot see him.
3. You cannot come to God with your prayers, issues, problems, etc. if you don't believe that he exist. (BTW...It would be very weird if you're talking to someone that you don't believe is there... I'm just saying.).
4. He rewards those who pursue his will for their lives with every inch of strength that they have.

Faith helps us to see that God is with us in our struggles. When we walk down a dark street, His angels protect us from harm. When we feel our marriage will be destroyed, faith helps us to see God holding everything together. When we are sick, faith moves us to call on Jehovah-Rapha, God who heals. When we have something that God is calling us to accomplish and it doesn't seem as  though we're making any progress, faith helps us to see God's hand leading us and strengthening us as we edge towards the finish line.

Faith helps us to know that we can count on God. The enemy will attack us because he wants us to give up on God but here is where our faith needs to kick in. Faith helps us to hold on to God when we are facing challenges or when life seems hopeless. We will all face many things in life that are not always comfortable. We will face things that attack our character. We will face trouble in our homes, on our jobs, and even in our churches. But God is all-powerful and still in control. Satan can only do what God allows him to do. Even when Satan is allowed to attack us for a season, God's hesed, His steadfast, faithful, and grace-giving love helps us to overcome. We call on Him and our troubles get lighter. We call on Him and our fears disappear. We call on him and he defeats our enemies. When facing the enemy, let your faith ignite. When you trust God, you'll find out that you'll always come away more stronger, more resilient, and with more faith. Sure, you may get a little beat up in the process. Every good fight goes a couple rounds. Sometimes you may feel that the enemy is getting the best of you, that he's winning the battle, but Satan is already defeated. Though he has many tactics, God's power gives you the advantage. Use your "power tools" and know that with God, you always come away with a win. 
                                                                 Checkmate!

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