Joyce Meyer - Prayer that Defeats Satan - Part 1
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Well, thank you for joining me today on «Enjoying Everyday Life». Today, I wanna teach you about prayer that resists satan. You know, we have an enemy and he’s always scheming, trying to come up with some new way to torment us or keep us from going forward. And I think one of the biggest things we need to do is recognize that. The Bible says, «Resist the devil at his onset». And as soon as you notice that the enemy is attacking you, that’s when you need to open your mouth and say, «Get behind me, satan,» or «I resist you, satan,» or «I rebuke you in Jesus' name». Always do it in Jesus' name. But today, I want to talk to you about the wearing out tactics of satan.
Daniel 7:25 says, «And he shall speak words against the Most High God and shall wear out the saints of the Most High». Do you ever feel worn out? You ever say to anybody, «That’s about to get on my last nerve»? Satan’s attack may come suddenly, but often it comes gradually and slowly. A little here, a little there, a little bit more here, a little bit more there. Something coming from some other direction you didn’t expect and then somebody else pestering you that you didn’t expect. And before you know it, you’re completely worn out and don’t even know how you got there. Satan has a plan, but frequently it is not recognized since part of his plan is to slowly wear the saints down. You know what the enemy wants us to do? He wants us to give up. He wants us to quit and give up. And God wants us to be stable, and firm, and steadfast, and patient, and have a decision deep in our heart that we will never give up.
«Wear out» means: to reduce little by little. A little this minute, a little the next, a little today and a little the next day. This wearing out is almost imperceptible. People are not conscious of it, yet the end result is there is nothing left: no strength, no vision, no health, no faith, no finances, no joy, no peace. And then we wonder, «How did I get in this position»? Well, when the enemy was coming at you in little ways, gradually, slowly by slowly, you didn’t resist him. And then it began to pile up until you just felt like you didn’t have anything left. What does just wear you out? What are the things that the devil uses to steal your peace? You know, I’ve gotten to the point where one of the things that is very difficult for me is to have four, five, six, seven things coming at me at one time, or too many people trying to talk to me at once, especially if I’m in a place where there’s a lot of noise.
Now, there was a time in my life when I could multitask and keep up with all of it, but that time has long since gone. And so, I need to be careful that I don’t let other people wear me out. They don’t mean to do it. They’re just wanting answers. But if too many are coming at me at once, it really makes me tired. It also frustrates me if I have to hurry. So, I need to do something about that before I end up having to hurry, which means I need to prepare ahead of time and not have to rush. «Forty-six percent of pastors», I just read this in a report, «Have seriously thought of quitting the ministry in the last year».
Forty-six percent. They haven’t all quit, but they’ve seriously thought about it. And the two top reasons they give are burnout, and loneliness and isolation. And, you know, you might think that a pastor would never be lonely because after all, they’ve got all this congregation. But, you know, the truth is, is when you’re ministering to somebody, sometimes you can’t get real close to them in just your everyday life, because some people want to see you on a pedestal. They wanna think you’re perfect and that you never do anything wrong. And if they see you in regular, ordinary life and see that you make mistakes, then it becomes a point of gossip for them. And so, sometimes, we just can’t take a chance on that.
I think many times pastors, and even CEOs, leaders of corporations, they just don’t feel like they have anybody that they can talk to, because people are so bad at keeping our secrets. And that’s one thing that we can all commit to today. When somebody shares a secret with us, we are gonna keep it and not tell it. «Do unto others as you would have them do unto you». Worry, anxiety, fear, excessive work, all these things, especially if they’re piled on us at one time, can definitely wear us out. You hear so many people say they’re tired. So many people say, «I’m just worn out. I just don’t feel like I can do this anymore». And we shouldn’t feel like that. If we’re doing what God has given us to do, he always gives us the strength and the ability to do it.
So, if I’m worn out, it’s because I’m doing things that God is not giving me the grace to do. Resist satan at his onset. When you first sense that the enemy is attacking you, don’t just sit around and wait and do nothing and hope he’ll go away or hope God will do something. God expects us to put our faith in him and take action. 1 Peter 5:8-9 says, «Be well balanced (temperate, sober of mind), vigilant and cautious at all times: for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring [in fierce hunger], seeking someone to seize upon and devour». Well, apparently it doesn’t have to be you. It doesn’t have to be me. He’s looking for someone. But if we know how to handle ourselves right and how to resist him right away, then it won’t be us.
«Withstand him: be firm in faith [against his onset, rooted, established, strong, immovable, and determined], knowing that the same (identical) sufferings are appointed to your brotherhood (the whole body of Christians throughout the world)». One of the things you don’t wanna do, when the enemy’s attacking you, is start to feel sorry for yourself. «Oh, poor me, the devil’s always picking on me». He’s always picking on anybody that’s actually making any progress and doing anything for God. Even if you begin a Bible study and you’re starting to really make progress in understanding the word, he’ll find some way to try to keep you from that Bible study or to try to keep you from remembering or actually learning anything.
Beware, be wise. Know that you have an enemy and resist him at the onset. Doesn’t take much. Jesus just said when the enemy was trying to come against him through Peter, «Get thee behind me, satan. You’re an offense and in my way». And that was the end of that. Just took a few seconds. All we need to do is resist. Say, «No». «No, get behind me, satan. I resist you, satan. I’m not gonna fall for your traps». Some examples in the Bible of this wearing out tactic. For many days, a maid with a spirit of divination followed Paul crying out. «She kept following Paul and [the rest of] Us, shouting loudly, 'these men are the servants of the Most High God. They announce to you the way of salvation.'»
Well, you would think, «Well, she was telling the truth. She wasn’t saying anything wrong». But she just kept it up, and kept it up, and kept it up. «And she did this for many days. Then Paul, being sorely annoyed and worn out, turned and said to the spirit within her, 'i charge you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.' and it came out at that very moment». He took action. I think a large part of what I want you to get today is that you need to be a person of action, not a person who waits for God to do everything for you or for other people to do everything for you. But take action yourself. Learn the Word of God and speak the Word of God.
When Jesus was taken into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit for 40 days and 40 nights, where he was tempted by the devil. The devil lied to him. And each time the enemy lied, Jesus came back with a scripture that refuted that lie. Know your Bible. Know scriptures. Commit them to your heart by meditating on them. And when the enemy comes against you with something that’s the opposite, like if he tells you «You’re no good, all you do is make mistakes,» well, you should be able to come back with saying, «I am the righteousness of God in Christ. God loves me. And yes, I make some mistakes, but I do a lot of things right too. Get behind me, shut up, and leave me alone». You’ll do yourself a lot of good if you’ll start defending yourself. Felix hoped Paul would give him some money, and he sought him often about it.
Acts 24:26, «At the same time he hoped to get money from Paul, for which reason he continued to send for him and was in his company and conversed with him often». He was pretending to want to learn the gospel, but what he really wanted was to get money from Paul. And Paul knew it, and so he didn’t put up with it. «Delilah pressed Samson daily,» the Bible says, «With her words, and so urged him continually that his soul was vexed unto death». He just got so tired of hearing her, «Tell me how you get your strength. Tell me how you get your strength». Well, his strength was in never cutting his hair. So, he had long hair. And she got him so aggravated and so worn out that just to shut her up, he told her the secret that he was not supposed to tell her, and it ended up being the beginning of his demise.
In Ephesians 6:13, it says that we’re to «Put on God’s complete armor, that we might be able to resist and stand our ground on the evil day [of danger], and then, having done all [the crisis demands], we’re to stand [firmly in our place]». Stand, don’t run. Stand. You know, a person who is always finding something wrong, no matter how blessed they are, can wear me out. They complain and complain and complain and it wears me out. I used to be a complainer. And I’ll tell you, once God set me free from it, I don’t like to be around people that complain and complain. Somebody else who will wear me out is somebody who is negative about everything. And actually, the Bible tells us not to even hang out with people like that. If they’re just gonna be used by the enemy to get you upset and disturbed, then you need to just take a break from 'em.
When I have too many things coming at me at once, it upsets me. I shared that already. Having to take care of people because they will not take care of themselves. They’re irresponsible. I had a lot of that in my family. My brother was irresponsible and so I ended up having to take care of him. My mom and dad were irresponsible. They saved no money. By the time they needed help in their elderly years and eventually needed to go into assisted living care and then into nursing home care, they had no money. So, we had to come along and pay for that. And you know, I don’t mind being a blessing to people. I love being a blessing to people, but I don’t like taking the responsibility that somebody else should have taken but didn’t. We all need to be responsible to make sure that we plan for the future to some degree, because the future’s gonna come and you don’t wanna be a person who just puts it off on somebody else. I’ve said even about people that can afford health insurance but just don’t wanna pay for it.
Well, if you end up in the hospital with a big bill, then somebody else is gonna have to come along and pay it. So, you need to do your part to be prepared for whatever may happen in the future. Well, how does satan try to wear us out? What about physically, our body? Satan seeks to wear us out physically. So many people are tired. But you know what? A lot of it’s because they just stay up too late, don’t get enough sleep, don’t rest enough. A lot of our problems we could fix if we would, but we sit around and wait for somebody else to do it. Maybe when you’re having a problem, you could ask God, «What would you like me to do about this? I put my trust in you, but if there is something that you want me to do, show me what it is so I can do it».
God usually works with us, not apart from us. Naturally, we’re exhausted when we get physically worn out. And then what happens? We don’t wanna pray. Therefore, we cannot clearly hear from God. And our ability to discern is hindered, and in turn, we usually make impatient, emotional, and bad decisions. You know, we don’t do good spiritually when we’re really tired physically. The spirit works with us physically. The mind and the body work together. We need to make sure that we keep all areas of our being well-rested and walking in wisdom. Satan attacked both job and Paul physically. Timothy had stomach trouble. Epaphroditus almost died from working in the ministry.
«What? Well, if he was working in the ministry, why didn’t God protect him»? Well, his heart may have been right, but his actions were foolish. He wasn’t getting the rest that he was supposed to get. You know, God says, one out of seven days, we need to rest. Now, under the old covenant, that had to be a specific day. But under the new covenant, I don’t believe it has to be a specific day. But I do think that we need to get, one day out of seven, we need to rest. We need to not be around a bunch of people. We need to rest. We need to read, be with our family, do something that’s simple that we can enjoy. James 5:14–15 says, «Is anyone among you sick»? Well, here’s what he can do. «Call for the church elders (the spiritual guides). And they should pray over him, anointing him with oil in the Lord’s name».
You know, I don’t think people do that much anymore. And it’s very clear here. If you’re sick, don’t just complain about how you feel. Don’t just run to the doctor. And I’m certainly not against going to doctors. I go to 'em myself. But it’s always good to ask somebody that is spiritually strong to pray for you. And this says, «To anoint you with oil in the Lord’s name». «And the prayer [that is] Of faith will save him who is sick, and the Lord will restore him: and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven». Prayer is the first line of defense and offense against satan. Satan will use even the ministry to wear us out. Epaphroditus almost died from working too hard in the ministry.
Paul says in Philippians 2:27–30. «He certainly was ill [too], near to death. But God had compassion on him, and not only on him but also on me, lest I should have sorrow [over] Sorrow, coming upon sorrow. So, I have sent him the more willingly and eagerly, that you may be gladdened at seeing him again, and that I may be less disquieted». I like that. Paul said, «I’m not only sending him to you so you can be glad to see him, but I’m sending him for my benefit too, so I can no longer be disquieted». I’m sure Paul was taking care of him, and with all of his other duties, it was wearing him out. You know, I’ve had several times in the ministry when I’ve worked too hard for too long, not getting enough rest, not taking enough breaks, and I got sick.
And a couple of times I got very, very sick. And you have some little things called adrenal glands, and they do a lot in your body, and if you wear them out, it takes a long time to come back from that. He told them, «Welcome Epaphroditus [home] In the Lord with all joy, and honor and highly appreciate men like him, for it was through working for Christ that he came so near to death, risking his [very] Life to complete the deficiencies in your service to me [which distance prevented you from doing]». Now, you know, it kind of leaves a question in our minds, sometimes. «Well, if Epaphroditus was doing this great thing working in ministry, why did he get sick»?
Well, because he still broke one of God’s health laws, which is to rest one out of seven days. Even though we may have a good motive for what we’re doing, we still can’t go against the other things that God tells us to do. And he tells us when we’re overburdened and weary, to come to him and enter his rest. And to come to him means to set apart some time, get alone with him and spend more than three minutes in prayer or even just in quiet, just being quiet and just listening to the Lord or just meditating on scriptures. One touch from God can give you enough energy to go for a long time. But if you don’t take those times, those rests, matter of fact, my recommendation is that you start every day with some time with God. «Man, I’m busy in the morning and I’ve got kids».
Well, get up before they do. Do whatever you have to do, but start your day with God. I don’t care if you have to go lock yourself in the bathroom for 10 minutes. Spend some time with God. I went through a few years, especially early in my ministry, when I felt like every single area of my body was being attacked. I mean, it was ridiculous: back problems, headaches, migraine headaches, sinus problems, my eyes hurt, my right ear hurt, had stomach problems, blood pressure, bowel problems, hormone problems, cancer. My right elbow hurt: my right wrist hurt. And you know what it hurt from? From holding the Bible up in the air when I was in conferences and doing this with it. I had Bible-itis. Wearing out man’s enthusiasm.
The devil likes to get us to where we don’t have any zeal. And we’re doing what we’re doing, but we’re not enthused about it anymore. Matter of fact, I mean, I’ve watched that with people. They’ve gone too long doing the same thing, not taking enough rest. Go out maybe on a mission’s trip and come back and go right back to work the next day. And pretty soon, it’s not long, and they’re saying, «I’m not enjoying this anymore. I really don’t have the grace to do this anymore». And it’s not really that they don’t have the grace. It’s because they’ve worn out the grace that they had. Romans 12:11 says, «Never lag in zeal and earnest endeavor: be aglow and burning with the spirit, serving the Lord».
I should be enthusiastic about what I do, and I am. I’m excited to be here teaching you the Word of God today. And not just an emotional excitement, but an excitement in my spirit that you’re learning some things that’s gonna save you a lot of trouble in the future. Satan tries to drain your peace, your joy, and your vision for serving God. You can mysteriously become uncomfortable, dissatisfied, and restless. And yet, there seems to be no real reason for it. Well, that’s when you need to rebuke the devil. «I resist you. You’re not gonna wear me out». Gradually, you begin to blame it on people and circumstances, and you can become bitter and do damage to relationships.
Do you know, when we get too tired, we just start thinking in ways that don’t make any sense? We’ll start wanting to blame it on somebody else. «Well, if you did this, I wouldn’t feel this way». And «If you didn’t do that, I wouldn’t feel this way». But we have to take responsibility for our own situations and not always put them off on somebody else. You have no joy in your work, and you find yourself worn down to a state of despair, discouragement, and even depression. And you don’t even know how you got that way.
Have you ever said, «How did I get here? What happened to me? I used to be full of zeal and energy, and now I’m just tired all the time»? Well, probably little by little, gradually, satan wore you down, getting you to do things that you shouldn’t have done, a little bit here, a little bit there, and then all of a sudden, it piles up on you. He will also work to wear out our spiritual life. He wears us out spiritually by stealing our prayer time. You’re energized in prayer. «They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength». As you spend time with God and you wait in his presence, your strength will be renewed.