I don’t believe the enemy can read our mind for a couple reasons.

First, the Bible says that God knows the secrets of our heart (Psalms 44:22), and that he searches our heart (Psalms 139:23). Nowhere in scripture does it say that the enemy searches our heart or knows the secrets of our heart. Only God can do that.

Secondly, only God is omniscient, or all-knowing. Satan is not all knowing. He does not know everything. And, neither do angels. Only God knows everything.

Does that mean the devil doesn’t know what we are thinking? We have to be careful here, because Genesis 3:1 says that the serpent was more cunning and crafty than all the other beasts of the field. He is quite the strategist. He is very subtle and devious in his ways. He has become a master at reading us through our behaviors, actions and micro expressions.

Micro expressions? One of my favorite television shows is “Lie to me”, about this specialist in neuroscience and neuropsychology who has become a master of reading people through slight expressions in the facial muscles or certain movements with their hands or shoulders, what he calls “micro expressions”.

Another show that is similar in concept is “The Mentalist”, about a guy who once used this ability to pretend to be a psychic, but now works for investigators to help solve crimes by reading people.

These are great examples of how I believe the enemy reads us. While he can’t read our thoughts, he can read our behaviors and body language. He knows when we are afraid or concerned or stressed. He often knows what we are thinking about by the way we are responding or acting. Watch somebody long enough, and you’ll be able to read them as well.

Can the devil read our mind or hear our thoughts? No, I don’t believe so. But, does he know what we are thinking at times? Yeah, I believe he is a master of reading our body language and micro expressions.

Most people believe that the devil has great power to inflict harm and physical danger into peoples lives, that he’s extremely powerful and should be feared. But, I don’t believe that. I don’t believe satan and his angels are to be feared–maybe recognized, revealed and better discerned, but not feared.

Satan once had great power and authority over all the earth. Adam surrendered his God-oradined authority and power to satan back in the Garden of Eden. It was lost for years, but then Jesus came to earth, died on the cross and restored our position of authority and released great power into our lives. Out first Adam lost it all, but our second Adam got it back for us (1 Corinthians 15:47).

To those who live their lives surrendered to Christ, you have great power and authority over the devil. Incredible power and authority! But, that doesn’t change the fact that devil will try to convince you otherwise. He will yell and scream (1 Peter 5:8) and lie to you (John 8:44) and find subtle ways to steal, kill and destroy you (John 10:10). His greatest weapon against humanity is the ability to speak into our thought life. He’s referred to as the Accuser (Revelation 12:10). He spews lies and accusations constantly into our thoughts and minds.

His primary strategy is simply this–to get you to agree with his accusations and lies. Maybe they are lies about God, our Father. Maybe they are lies about yourself, maybe how God sees you and loves you. Maybe they are lies about your spouse, your family, your friends–whatever. The devil will constantly, relentlessly, viciously spew accusations into your thoughts to get you to agree with him, because that’s where his greatest power lies–the power of agreement.

If he can get you to agree with him, then he’s got you. This was his key tactic against Jesus when he was being tempted in the wilderness. The Bible says that the devil came to him in the wilderness and tempted Jesus. I don’t believe there was any physical snake or apparition or evil voice. I believe Jesus had these thoughts, “If I’m really the son of God, I can turn these stones into bread.” It was a thought in his mind that the devil spoke. He was trying to get Jesus to agree with him. But, Jesus overcame the enemy by quoting scripture, by speaking a God thought, and rejecting a “me thought”.

It is absolutely imperative that we learn to police our thoughts, take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). And, we must change the way we think and perceive things (Romans 12:2, Ephesians 4:23).

The other day, my wife and I got into an argument about something, and as we went to bed, my mind was spinning with thoughts. She doesn’t understand me. I thought we were happy. Maybe I just need to move out for awhile.

In the moment, it was feeding my anger and frustration. It was hard to take those thoughts captive because they were so prevalent in my mind. But I realized where they were coming from. They were not my thoughts. She does understand me, more than anyone on this earth. I love my wife. I have a great future ahead with her. It’s obvious now that the enemy was lying to me, speaking confusion and deception. He was trying to get me to agree with him. And, if I had, it would have taken me one step closer to marital problems.

When it comes to physical sickness, I’ve heard it said that more than 80% of the documented illnesses don’t have a known physical cause, implying that the majority of sicknesses start in our mind and thoughts. I believe if the enemy can get you to agree with him about some physical sickness or symptom you’re experiencing, then you will let your mental, emotional and spiritual guard down. And WAM, you’re sick.

Learn to fight the good fight of faith (believing). Learn to police your thoughts and not just accept what comes into your mind. Guard your mind. As it says in Proverbs, “Guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life!” (Proverbs 4:23)

If the enemy can convince you of something, and you believe it, then he’s got you. Belief is the tool God uses to release his power on the earth. And the devil knows that, so he also uses our belief in a counterfeit way to release his hellish power into our lives.

Jesus said, “Have faith in God. I assure you that you can say to this mountain, ‘May God lift you up and throw you into the sea,’ and your command will be obeyed. All that’s required is that you really believe and do not doubt in your heart. Listen to me! You can pray for anything, and if you believe, you will have it.” (Mark 11:22-24).

When Jesus said, “Have faith in God”, he was simply saying, “Believe.” He didn’t say go and do something. He said to believe. That starts in our mind.

The key to victory in any area of your life starts with your thoughts. What you think about leads to action. What you believe about yourself, about your situation, about others will come to pass. And, it’s not those one-time random thoughts that will come to pass—it’s those constant, pounding, never-ending thoughts that you focus on and believe that will come to pass.

• I’ll never beat this depression.
• I’ll always be a failure.
• My marriage won’t last.
• My grandpa died from cancer, so I’ll probably die from cancer.

“As a man thinks in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7).

We’ve got to stop accepting these thoughts like they are our own! We must “take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). We must hunker down and wage this mental war as fiercely as it’s being waged against us by the devil.

To overcome any issue in your life, you must change the way you think and believe. This is what God commands us to do throughout scripture:

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is” (Romans 12:2).

We must let God change the way we think about things, then we’ll really know what his will is for our lives.

As I wrote and finished this post, I thought, It sure would be good to share a real-life, practical example of this in my own life.

So, here it goes. When I was a kid, I had these episodes of fear that were incredibly intense. Terrifying. They would often manifest themselves in panic attacks, agoraphobia and sheer terror. This went on for years. In college, I was officially diagnosed with “Chronic Anxiety and Panic Disorder”. At this time, I wasn’t really a Christian. I pretty much believed every thought that came into my mind.

In 1991, I became a Christian, but it wasn’t until years later that I learned this principal of faith and thoughts. I started a website ministry called Season of Peace for Christians battling anxiety and panic attacks.

Throughout this condition, I constantly battled negative thoughts. I will never get free from this. These kinds of things run in the family. There’s no hope for me. I guess I’ll just have to live with this. I’ll probably need medication the rest of my life.

Any of that sound familiar? But, in 2000, I experienced this mind change. God showed me that I can change things by changing the way I think about them. I don’t have to live like this. God whispered into my heart, “You can be free.” And, here’s the key: I believed him.

Shortly after that revelation, I started believing in freedom. I started to believe that I don’t have to live my life in fear, or fear of the fear. I don’t have to rely on medication the rest of my life, like my doctor said. I can believe God.

Today, it has been more than eight years since that revelation, and life is awesome! No more panic attacks. No more crippling anxiety. No more fear.

God spoke to my heart, and I believed him. The devil comes to steal, kill and destroy, but Jesus came that we might have life and life more abundantly (John 10:10).

Thank you, Lord, for my freedom in Christ.

Think about it for a moment. Where does temptation start?

Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death (James 1:14, 15).

It starts in our thoughts, our evil desires. And when “desire has conceived”, the result is sin. A conceived thought. Using pregnancy as the obvious analogy, our mind is like the egg, fertile and ready to receive the seed. But, what are these seeds?

Here’s what the Bible says in Luke 8:11, “The seed is the word of God.” We are to plant God’s word into our minds so that we are impregnated with seeds of life. If we let the enemy plant his seeds, then it will give birth to sin and sin brings for death.

(Remember the parable of the wheat and the tares? There were two seed sowers. “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.” Matthew 13:24, 25.)

I’ve really been thinking about this a lot lately. Are there any sins that are fully active in your life right now, habitual sins like lust, pride, lying, fornication, drinking, anger or something you know is not right?

I am becoming more and more convinced that even as a Christian, habitual sins will lead to death. Not a spiritual death, because your spirit is new in Christ. But, if you do not take steps to overcome your habitual sins, they will destroy your soul, which will in turn destroy your body. Sin has consequences.

When we start entertaining thoughts in our head, eventually the thought will take root in our mind. And, the conceived thought will continue to grow in our mind, maybe in a matter of minutes. Maybe years. But, once conceived, it’ll grow until it gives birth to action. Sin. Or, until you uproot that thought.

Is there hope? Can we overcome these “evil desires” and “conceived thoughts”? I think so. But, it takes discipline. Read this promise carefully. The key is here:

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 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, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled (2 Corinthians 10:3-6).

We must train and discipline our mind to “bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ”. We must learn to “cast down arguments” and everything that tries to position itself higher than Christ in our thoughts. If you don’t fight this, then “you are a slave to whatever we choose to obey” (Romans 6:16).

As we were driving, I made this blanket statement, directed mostly towards my own attitude and unbelief. I said, “I wonder sometimes if we don’t see answers to our prayers because we don’t really believe God.” My wife got quiet all of sudden—something was stirring. I realized later that it wasn’t a good stirring.

When we got home, she was very upset with me. I asked her why. I didn’t understand what I had done wrong. (That’s pretty normal for me.) When I made that statement about our prayers not being answered because we don’t believe, here’s what she heard me say, “Angela, it’s all your fault. You don’t really believe when you pray. You’re the reason God doesn’t answer our prayers.”

Whoa! Where did that come from? That’s not what I said. Nor was that what I intended. I was speaking totally about myself. Yet, what she heard was a condemning accusation about her faith.

Immediately, I knew exactly where that came from. Ephesians 2:2 calls Satan “the mighty prince of the power of the air.” He has this “gift” to mix up the words we say so that the hearer receives them completely different than what we speak. He can manipulate thoughts and ideas so that when the words come into our minds, we misinterpret them and immediately become offended. It’s an incredibly effective strategy, especially when people are completely unaware of it.

Thankfully, my wife is the kind of person who likes to talk things out (sometimes in gory detail). So, we talked about my comment and my intentions, and she quickly realized that I was not accusing her nor pointing my finger at her faith. It was more about me and my walk with God. Not hers.

Think about your own life. How many times have you said something only for it to be completely interpreted wrong? Or, how about those times when you sense something is wrong with your spouse, and she comes in crying, “You said this and you said that.” And you can’t recall every saying that. The prince of the air is at work.