"...for we are not ignorant of his devices..." (see 2 Corinthians 2:11)
The Bible tells us that we should always be prepared for any of the devil's attacks against us. The enemy will not stop at anything until he succeeds in bringing God's people into sin and away from Him.
Christians can prepare for victory against the enemy by learning about some of the common ways by which he tries to stop Christians from doing God's will.
Are you ready? Let's go.
Three things the devil does to stop God's people from doing God's will
1) Casting doubt on God
Genesis 3 gives us the first of Satan's tricks: casting doubt on God. Specifically, on God's word.
In Genesis 3:1 we read the serpent attempting to sway Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. His first line?
"Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?"
With these words the devil challenges the Lord's words, and how we receive them.
The Bible tells us that "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (see Romans 10:17). When we hear the word of God, do we receive it by believing it?
Or do we doubt what God said in His word?
When we doubt God's words, we fail to have faith. This will allow the enemy to deceive us like he did Eve.
2) Distracting us
Luke 4 reveals to us another one of Satan's tactics: distraction.
If the enemy can distract us from pursuing God's will, he will succeed in stopping us from doing what God wants. If he doesn't succeed in stopping us, he can at least delay us and make our efforts less effective.
The devil tried this technique on the Lord Jesus Christ, who perfectly thwarted him.
In Luke 4 we read that Jesus was fasting and was hungry. Naturally, the devil would tempt him to eat, but this was more than just eating food; it was to tempt Christ to give in to the flesh.
After tempting Jesus with food, the devil tempted Him with glory. Of course we know how Jesus countered him with Scripture that says we should all seek God and worship Him, no one else.
Then we read how the devil tempted Christ to abuse His authority over angels and thus tempt God Himself. Christ was able to quickly refute him with Scripture.
3) Condemning us for our past choices
Lastly, one of the most powerful techniques the devil employs is condemnation. If he can condemn us for our past sins, we will never be able to move forward in joy and in constant gratitude to God.
The enemy will always bring to our remembrance wrong or sinful things that we've done before in order to condemn us. He does this to make us feel like we're good for nothing.
Christ's atoning sacrifice, however, paid the price for our sins to be forgiven. And when God forgives our sins, He also forgets them and erases them from memory. God said in Isaiah 43:25,
"I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins."
This is the reason why Romans 8:1 is so powerful and true for all who believe and follow Christ as Lord:
"There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit."
