There is a great deception
Focusing on the devil to battle him
The battle is not ours
The battle always belongs to the Lord
There was a preacher on YouTube yesterday I stumbled across
He was having a live prayer meeting
He was exalting Satan
He didn’t realize he was but he was
He was spending all his time and attention on Satan
and how he was telling Satan what to do because he had the power to do so
The problem is, Jesus was not the focus
Jesus always has to be the focus
Always
There are no exceptions
David, when he encountered the Philistine,
He was not focused on the Philistine
And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying,
What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine,
and taketh away the reproach from Israel?
for who is this uncircumcised Philistine,
that he should defy the armies of the living God? 1 Samuel 17:26
Daniel did not battle the devil
Daniel prayed and fasted and continued to worship the Lord
Michael the Archangel battled the devil
And, behold, an hand touched me, which set me upon my knees
and upon the palms of my hands. And He said unto me, O Daniel,
a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee,
and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent.
And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling.
Then said He unto me, Fear not, Daniel:
for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand,
and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard,
and I am come for thy words.
But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me;
and I remained there with the kings of Persia.
Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people
in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days. Daniel 10:10-14
I can’t find anyone in the bible who wasted time talking about the devil
or talking to the devil or spending much time at all on the devil
Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation,
but said, The Lord rebuke thee. Jude 1:9
The demons wanted to speak, Jesus told them to be quiet
And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him.
And when the devil had thrown him in the midst,
he came out of him, and hurt him not. Luke 4:35
When Jesus had completed his fast, Satan came to tempt him
Jesus didn’t allow him to talk much but returned the focus to God
And Jesus answered and said unto him,
Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written,
Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Luke 4:8
We have been given authority over the devil as is stated in scripture:
Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions,
and over all the power of the enemy:
and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Luke 10:19
But woe unto us if we proceed without the Lord Jesus as our focus