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Can the enemy speak to us? The fact is, most of us have already heard the enemy in our mind.
Have you ever stopped to consider that some of the thoughts that have been stirring around in your mind were from the enemy? Think about the years you heard in your mind things that were not edifying, encouraging or exhorting. Thoughts such as:
- "You will never amount to anything."
- "Why don't you take that knife and cut yourself?"
- "Why don't you run your car into a tree or off that road?"
- "Your spouse doesn't love you."
- "They are talking about you."
- "Nobody will ever love you."
We have all heard these thoughts in our mind. They have rolled around in our mind and unfortunately some of these thoughts have taken us captive and we have believed them. The thoughts are produced from lying spirits that attack us, our thought process, our feelings and our emotions. They attack the very core of our soul. We find ourselves thinking suicidal thoughts, getting depressed, worrying if our spouse really does love us or if they are cheating on us. Can you relate to any of these?
When these thoughts are rolling around in our mind and we start believing them. They become part of us and who we think we are or we perceive them as reality of what is going to happen to us. These thoughts can become torment as we keep thinking about them, but there is something we can do about our situation.
"For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ" (2 Cor. 10:4-5). We need to take our thoughts captive and bind our minds to the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16 and Phil. 2:6).
It can be difficult to conquer our past. We do conquer our past through the Lord Jesus Christ, however now we have to conquer the behavior patterns and habits of automatically allowing our thoughts to go in the wrong direction. The enemy knows this and he sends tormenting and lying spirits forth to attack us.
Jesus recognized the voice of the enemy. Satan spoke to Jesus in the desert. If Satan spoke to Jesus won't he surely speak to us? In Matthew, Satan tempted Jesus and spoke to Him several times (Matthew 4:3-11). Jesus heard from Satan and kept quoting the Scriptures to Satan. We need to do that! As a thought comes in our mind, we need to speak out loud the Scriptures against these thoughts. As we take hold of the Word of God, believe it and speak it, nothing is impossible for us to accomplish.
When I was being attacked with mind-binding thoughts years ago, the Lord spoke to me and said, "Kathy, if your mind is full, stuffed and crammed full of the Scriptures, there will be no room for the doubts and lies of the enemy to come in and take a foothold." That was an awesome word from the Lord! When the lies began to attack, I immediately started quoting Scripture. Jesus modeled this for us by immediately taking hold of the Word and if we are supposed to be like Jesus, and we are, than we need to follow in His footsteps.
We are in a battle and the battle begins in the mind. We need to immediately give no place to the devil (Eph. 4:27) and use the Word of God as our great weapon against the enemy. We need to be building ourselves up in the Word of God. We can't quote Scripture if we don't know the Scripture. Feed yourself, feed your spirit man, and give yourself an arsenal of equipment by filling yourself up with the Word of God.
The first way to conquer the lies the enemy is telling you is to acknowledge how he speaks to you. If you can recognize how the enemy speaks to you, then you have just exposed him. When we expose the enemy, we begin to take our authority over the enemy. Exposing the enemy is the beginning of ending the spiritual warfare he is trying to afflict on us. If you can't recognize when the enemy is speaking to you, spend time seeking the face of God. Discern and self-examine with God's help.
When the enemy tries to give you direction don't listen to it, don't take it in, rebuke it (which means take authority over it) and cast it away. Instantly, purge it from your mind, as it is a distraction and assignment from the enemy.
In order to be able to discern more clearly ask yourself the following questions:
- "How does God speak to me?"
- "Where am I when God speaks to me?"
- "How does the enemy speak to me?"
- "Can I hear God's voice?"
- "Do I know the difference?"
We need to take authority over our thoughts and change the way we think. We need to take our thought and ask ourselves does this line up with God's Word. When you discover it is not lining up with God's word, dismiss it and move on. The battlefield is in our mind and we need to get the power back into our mind that God gave us, because His Word says, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind," (2 Tim. 1:7).
Kathy DeGraw is the founder of DeGraw Ministries a prophetic healing ministry releasing the love and power of God. She travels hosting conferences, teaching schools and evangelistic love tours. Kathy enjoys writing and is the author of several books including Flesh, Satan or God—Who Are You Hearing From? (from which a portion of this article was adapted). Connect with Kathy at www.degrawministries.org.
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