We do not want to give Satan more credit than he deserves, but we do need to be aware of his influence in the world. But our best defense is a great offense in being solidly grounded in Gods word.
Satan means accuser in both Hebrew and Greek. He accuses you of not being who God tells us we are. He is a deceiver. He will try to get people to deviate from the truth. Sometimes he tries to get us to take a single step in the wrong direction.
The enemy is sneaky. He prowls around looking for a weakness. Just like a lion looking for a meal. He is looking for a foothold. Something we have given him access. He wants to devour you. He wants to destroy you. Why? Because we are the object of Gods love. He is trying to go through us to get to the Father.
Satan lies to us by saying that we are giving up too much by knowing God. But the opposite is true. We gain the most by accepting the relationship that God offers.
He questions Jesus as the son of god. But Jesus replays that he does not need to test God. Then satan tests gods power by offering to Jesus the cities of the world if Jesus worships satan. Jesus says he will only worship the one true god.
Satan (the god of this age) will blind unbelievers to gods truth. In the same way that god has defined righteousness, we can discern people who are with god or who are against him.
We see more and more that the world has deemed gods word and his truth as nonsensical or unnecessary. We even see in some parts of the world where is truth is deemed illegal. When we identify sin, the world will say it is hate speech.
We do not need to know every ploy of the enemy. He know he has loss the war. But he is after prisoners and casualties in the battles. But our defense is having the best offense. What good is a quarterback in football if he knows the his opponents defense, but he doe not know his own offense? It is our offense that makes the devil run. When the devil attacks, we submit to go and we him he has no authority here. We do not have to ask him or be polite. We just say that we trust god and the devil can take a hike. He has not choice.
When we discussed anger, we are told not to let the sun set on our anger. Why? Because when anger festers in us, we are creating an opening that satan can attack.
When we draw close to god, we can begin to address our sins and he will purify us and eliminate the footholds of satan.
8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (ESV)
3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.
He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” (ESV)
4:1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written,
“‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,
“‘He will command his angels concerning you,’
and
“‘On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”
7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,
“‘You shall worship the Lord your God
and him only shall you serve.’”
11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
12 Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. 13 And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
15 “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—
16 the people dwelling in darkness
have seen a great light,
and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death,
on them a light has dawned.”
17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
18 While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21 And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
23 And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. 24 So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them. 25 And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan. (ESV)
3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. (ESV)
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (ESV)
8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. (ESV)