I Talk Back To The Devil

“OH God, under whom all hearts be open, and unto whom all will speaketh, and unto whom no privy thing is hid, I beseech Thee, so for to cleanse the intent of my heart with the unspeakable gift of Thy grace, that I may perfectly love Thee and worthily praise Thee!”

- Anonymous

In the past few years, God has taught me a few things. He has taught me that our battle is that against the powers of darkness, but also what we need to overcome the powers of darkness is a heart that is fully transparent before Him.

For a long time, I was afraid to give my heart to people, I was afraid to let people know what was in my heart, because all PEOPLE have done is mercilessly tear it apart.

But I believe that this is what God wants me to do as He purifies me because the Holy Spirit knows all things that are within my heart, and as long as I am willing to be a fool enough to let Him have it, there is nothing the devil can do with my heart that will destroy my faith and my spirit. Instead, the only thing that will happen is that God will use it to transform lives.

I know “talking back to the devil” sounds fanatical, or ultra-religious or whatever, but I think it isn’t as scary as it sounds. It was inspired by a sermon written by A. W. Tozer called, “I Talk Back To The Devil” where he talks about the work of Jesus on the cross, and then claims that we don’t have full victory in Christ because the devil comes to us and says, “I defy you – what do you do about it?” and then we react by falling back into the grip of sin.

But I believe that it is really simple. Every time you praise God, you’re talking back to the devil. Every time you speak God’s word back to Him and to yourself, you’re denying the devil any hold on your life.

So this is what I’m trying to do.

I’m offering my life back to God. I’m giving up my heart to Him.

And I believe that in all things, we have two options:

1. Surrender to God’s will, believe that He is sovereign and all things will work out for good

2. Moan and give the devil a chance to destroy us

So even in my humanness and my struggles, I want to come to a point where I stop moaning and recognise God’s power and grace over my life. I believe that this is what the devil does not WANT to see happen, and this blog is my way of defying the devil by saying, “I belong to Jesus – what can you do about it?”