This past weekend, my wife and I were driving back from a baby shower of a friend. It was a nice peaceful drive. We were talking about our pastor’s message this weekend. He was preaching about how God has chosen to limit himself to our faith, to what we believe. It was an excellent message and right on.

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.