There is a perpetual war going on in the soul of every individual about the thoughts, desires and plans fulfilled and yet pending. The devil keeps us focussed on our self efforts to distract us from our God dependence through doubts about answers to prayers. Due to this we tend to make wrong or no decisions at all and miss out on God given opportunities for success. How does one keep the plans and efforts of our soul pointed towards the right direction and under the Sovereign control of God?
Role of our soul – After creating him, God blessed Adam and he was also assigned a task to ‘dominate and subdue the earth’ (Genesis 1:28). This role required him to communicate with all on the earth while meeting and being led by God through the daily visits of the Almighty. With God his communication can only be through his spirit for ‘God is a Spirit’ (John 4:24). However, with the earthly beings, his communication is through the use of his mind and five senses. Soul of an individual is the life force and link to connect a person to both heavenly and earthly realms. It is due to this role of the soul that creates a fight within an individual, for after the sin of disobedience the spirit of man could no longer communicate with God and the devil started his dialogue with mankind. After redemption, the Holy Spirit dwells in a believer but the soul’s inclination is still towards the forces of evil, for we are surrounded by darkness all around.
Though we have the promise of God to answer all our prayers, God has not set up firstly a timeline, secondly, the way of answering and finally the quantum of what was asked for. King David’s prayer is a list of questions, ‘How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?’ (Psalm 13:1). Like him, we also seek answers to our prayers the same moment that we have asked, whereas, God first prepares us to receive the answer lest we go astray due to pride or abundance or assurance of repeated gifts from God. We often pray for help from God to help us come out of our financial difficulties without taking any steps to take corrective action to prevent overspending or spending on personal pleasures to impress others. There are innumerable people who take loans to show off during the marriage of their children and then want God to pay off their loans.
The devil uses such situations to start a battle within the soul about the faithfulness and love of God towards His children. Then we start considering various ways to receive the answers or try other options to handle the situation. Nehemiah had returned to Jerusalem with the authority of the King Artaxexes to rebuild the walls of the city of Jerusalem. But when Sannabalat and others with him learnt of this, they laughed with scorn at the efforts of the few Jews with Nehemiah. They said, ‘Whatever they build, even if a fox goes up on it, he will break down their stone wall’ (Nehemiah 4:3). Such words are aimed to frustrate and discourage us and stop us from even undertaking such a gigantic task. But Nehemiah continued to encourage his people and for a time the workers even carried a sword while working on the wall to thwart any attacks by their enemies.
Jacob used deception to receive the blessings of the firstborn from Isaac, his father, and then fled to his mother, Rebekah’s people, for his elder brother Esau had sworn to kill him. On the way at Bethel, in his sleep, he dreamt of the ladder going up from the earth to heaven, angels of God ascending and descending on it, with the LORD God above that (Genesis 28:12-15). Jacob then received from God the blessings of Abraham and Isaac. He was further assured by God, ‘Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you’.
Jacob was with Laban, Rebekah’s brother, for twenty years, married his two daughters, had children and a large number of sheep and cattle and servants to care for his family when he returned to his father Isaac’s land. He remembered the threat of Esau but forgot the promise of God to bring him safely back to the land promised by God as their inheritance. Though Jacob was chased by Laban, the two parted company with an agreement to not enter each other’s area. After this when ‘Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him’ and God was with him protecting and blessing him in all his works. However, when he learnt of his brother Esau coming to meet him with four hundred men, he was ‘greatly afraid’ and divided his people and the flocks in two camps to ensure that at least one will escape.
Jacob sent everyone across ‘the ford of Jabok’ but he stayed back alone ‘and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day’ (Genesis 32:24). Jacob did not submit to this Man and was permanently incapacitated with the socket of his hip being dislocated. His name was also changed from Jacob, the supplanter to Israel (one who struggles/wrestles with God). Many interpretations are given about the Man with whom Jacob wrestled; first, it was an angel of God; second, with his own self and his soul and third, with the Son of God who came to make him submit to God’s authority rather than on self. Because he was not willing to submit, God had to afflict him to make him incapable and thus surrender to His care. Most people keep on discussing in the soul all that can happen and working out various alternatives despite having sought the Lord in prayer for rescue. It is then that we suffer till we surrender to the Lord in total dependence.
Reasons for the battle of the soul – Wisdom and knowledge are gifts of the Holy Spirit and man was created to live in this light from God and not be under the control of the worldly knowledge gained through the five senses (1 Corinthians 12:8). Worldly knowledge is gained through experience but heavenly through revelation. Adam and Eve were created with the required knowledge of what is good and what is not good. The prohibition of not eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was to save them from experiencing the sinful act of disobedience. – Once that came they could not control or remove that power of evil from within them with their own power and efforts. The relationship between Adam and Eve of leaving father and mother to ‘become one flesh’ also changed due to that (Genesis 2:23-24). The change brought in self centeredness and Adam blamed God and the ‘woman whom You gave to be with me’ (Genesis 3:12-13 & 20). The woman blamed the serpent for deceiving her ‘and I ate’. Adam then named his wife ‘Eve, because she was the mother of all living’, thus different from him.
This changed relationship caused Eve to say after giving birth to Cain, ‘I have acquired a man from the LORD’ (Genesis 4:1). The Hebrew word used here is ‘qanah’ which means to ‘acquire, possess, purchase’. The son was of both parents but Eve claimed sole ownership. The knowledge that they had acquired from sources other than God started this strife within them and also with each other and all else on the earth. As a result, the flow of knowledge and wisdom from God was stopped and earthly knowledge dominates and guides each and every individual since then. We want to and do believe in God and all His authority and power but our thoughts are also dominated by the ‘what if’ attitude of doubt, even on God and His ability and willingness to answer our prayers.
Lot, Abraham’s nephew, was taken captive by Chedorlaomer, king of Elam and three other kings with him, after they had defeated the king of Sodom and four other kings with him. Abram defeated all of them with his 319 servants, rescued Lot and recovered all the wealth that was looted. The king of Sodom asked Abram to return the people but keep the goods, but Abram refused saying, ‘I will take nothing that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich’ (Genesis 14:21-23). Immediately after this incident, ‘The Word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward’ (Genesis 15:1). Legend has it that Abram felt fear of the four kings that he had defeated and also regretted his decision to refuse to take the wealth that he had recovered and was offered. We have such moments in our life and this starts the battle to work out some other alternatives to make up.
The ‘what if’ thoughts start the battle within, with doubts about the future. Jacob was met by the angels of God as he was returning back but the thoughts, ‘What if Esau is not stopped and he kills my family’, disturbed him immensely. He divided his family into two groups and in a similar manner we start worrying, planning alternatives and our faith is shaken.
In the wilderness of Zin, the whole Israelite community complained for lack of water and Moses was commanded by the LORD to ‘take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water’ (Numbers 20:8-11). Moses gathered everyone together and said to them ‘Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?’ and he struck the rock twice. Moses, like many leaders, was under intense pressure in dealing with the LORD God and the people. In this internal strife, he failed to hear God properly and acted as in the first instance of getting water for the people from the rock (Exodus 17:5-6). The battle in the soul prevents us from hearing the ‘still small voice of God’ and misleads us into self identified ways. Moses was the person with whom ‘God spoke face to face as to a friend’ (Exodus 33:11) and is known as the greatest prophet, yet he faltered.
Judas Iscariot was chosen by Lord Jesus with the twelve and like others; he also had dreams of assuming an important position in the kingdom that he expected the Lord to set up after defeating the Romans. But once he was clear about the mission of the Saviour to be the ‘Suffering Messiah’, he betrayed His Master for a pittance. Our inner turmoil opens a door for the devil to lead us away from our God destined purpose. Judas realized his mistake and ‘brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, ‘I have sinned by betraying innocent blood’ (Matthew 27:3- 4). Alone with his inner trurmoil, he finally found no other way of escape but to commit suicide. The battle in the soul continues relentlessly even in the believers, for though we are saved through faith in the Lord, our nature still has not fully changed. For Satan the battle is to control the thoughts and desires of every believer and he uses lies and deception and pride to do this.
The pronouncement by God about Lord Jesus being the beloved Son of God and the reason for bringing pleasure to God the Father, was definitely heard by the devil. Yet during the temptation of the Lord, he used the question ‘If You are the Son of God’ to attempt to start inner turmoil like, ‘why am I suffering hunger, I can use my power to create bread and eat; or I can jump off the top of the Temple and prove to everyone about My Divinity and they would believe (Matthew 4:1-10). Lord Jesus did not fall for this and finally the devil had to leave. The root cause of turmoil is our inherent unbelief. The father of the deaf and mute boy cried out and said with tears, ‘Lord, I believe, help my unbelief’ and Lord Jesus healed the boy by casting out the evil spirit. We can put a stop to this internal turmoil by crying out to the Lord for His help and He is always ready to help.
Winning the battle within – The enemy wants to influence our thoughts and thus influence our actions directly and this he does by shifting our focus from God and His Word to our own self effort. The most common lie quoted as being from the Holy Bible is, ‘God helps those that help themselves’ but the fact is that God moves towards those who seek Him and surrender to His ways.
The first and most important aspect of this battle is to recognize the goal of the enemy to lead us away from God’s truth and destroy our life. He wants us to think contrary to the Word of God. Second, be aware that the battle is waged through personal attacks. Prophet Daniel fasted and prayed for forty days and the angel of the Lord came to him carrying the answer to his prayers (Daniel 10:12-13). The angel told him ‘from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard’. Lord Jesus has taught us, ‘whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them’ (Mark 11:24). But, our faith keeps on shifting and when we fast and pray, our faith starts the inner turmoil about receiving the answer or not. We must realize that as God’s children and being citizens of His heavenly Kingdom, we are protected and provided for from His resources in heaven. The moment we believe this then five loaves become enough to organize a feast for five thousand men.
To win this battle, Apostle Paul provides guidance; and advises us to meditate on the list of things that he has listed. ‘Whatever is true and is reliable; whatever is noble or dignified; whatever is just or as per God’s standards; whatever is pure and morally right; whatever is lovely and pleasing/agreeable; whatever is of good repute and praiseworthy, focus on that (Philippians 4:8-9). God commanded Joshua to meditate upon and do His Words to be successful (Joshua 1:8). Once our thoughts pass this standard test the battle within stops and till then we are to keep on discarding the evil thoughts. God is light and walking in His light we stay away from darkness. This is not a sudden change but a gradual and continuous process and God is willing to help provided we are ready to reach out and seek His help!
Lord Jesus did warn us about suffering various trials under the hand of forces of darkness and evil prevailing in the world. But he also assured us of His having triumphed over these same forces of evil. When we start living in faith in His completed work on the cross, His right hand upholds us and guides us into victory. We have the choice to walk in His protection to lead a victorious life or submit to the lies of the devil and his evil ways. The choice we make here will have eternal ramifications.
