Power: Know the Lies and Power of Satan

RELATED VERSE: DO NOT LEAD US INTO TEMPTATION, BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL

A Letter to Read/Use As A Guide With Your Children

Dear Children,I want you to be keenly aware of who Satan is. Some of the terms he has been referred to as in the Bible are:serpent---Genesis 3: 1-7thief---John 10:10enemy---Psalms 61:3deceiver---Revelation 12:9-11father of lies---John 8:44roaring lion---I Peter 5:8accuser---Revelation 12:9-11ruler of darkness---Ephesians 6:12destroyer---John 10:10Now, listen to his main objectives as he roams the earth, seeking out hearts, minds, and souls. He will make every effort:to trick youto steal from youto attack youto fool youto lie to youto devour youto pass wrong judgment on youto keep you in his darknessand to completely defeat you.Children, Satan is very much alive, and he is very powerful. If you do not have Christ in your heart and mind, then he does have the power to do to you all the things he plots out and schemes. Remember, his goal is to keep you locked up in a prison cell where you are completely unable to serve the God whom you proclaim to love. He is desperately trying to keep you bound to your “old self.” Recognize some of these strongholds (which I have mentioned before) which Satan will wrap like thick cords around your mind: shame, guilt, fear, bitterness, worry, confusion, discontentment, and doubt. Also take note, there are many other heavy chains your enemy will use to dominate your behavior. Know, dear ones, he is behind every single snare you fall into. He is oh-so-crafty, and will always attack you in your weakest moment, targeting your weakest spot. So, I want you to take Jesus’ advice: Keep watching and praying, that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak (Mat 26:41). Call on Him in time of need; His Spirit will surely come to your rescue. Your Savior Jesus, is the only One who can sever those cords and break those chains. I know this to be true, first hand, children. Satan had the “cords” of shame and discontentment wrapped so tightly around my neck, they were choking the way, the truth and the life out of me, and I was not even aware of his schemes! Like I said, he is oh-so-crafty. However, my Jesus did come, and he did save. And now, my cup overflows!I love you

Teaching Tools/Activities For Your Children

• Find either a chain or thick rope and wrap them around the wrists of your children (in a gentle, loving way).
• Tell them this is Satan’s objective for their whole life, except his chains/ropes are much tighter!
• Discuss any kind of bondage your child may bring up, or that you see in your child (fear, worry, shame, etc.) and pray together that God would snap those chains in two! Remind them of Galatians 5:1: It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

A Prayer To Pray Over Your Children

Dear Heavenly Father,I pray my children would be given abundant wisdom concerning who Satan is and what his objectives are in each of their lives. With this wisdom, may they be able to stand firm against their enemy.First, I pray, they will know that Satan is a ruler. Help them to realize he is much more than a “passive being” down in the depths of the earth. Instead, may they see him as active as You have described him in Your Word: he is like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour (I Peter 5:8). Help them to understand, You have “given permission” to Satan for the whole world to lie in his power (I John 5:19). He is the ruler of darkness; and we, as believers, will wrestle against his forces of the world until the day we go Home. Make my children ready for battle, dear Lord. May they bring Your light into this dark place.Secondly, I pray, my children will know that Satan is a liar. Make them aware this master deceiver is always scheming out ways in which he can keep God’s children from being these “lights” for the cause of Christ! May they know that Satan wants their light off! Make my children aware, dear Lord, of their own weaknesses and strongholds; and may they expect to be attacked by Satan in these areas. Keep them, I pray, from being lured into his evil bondage. Always guard their minds from his deceiving use of guilt, or shame, or fear, or bitterness, or any other cord he chooses to tie them up or “snuff them out” with! May they say, with confidence, as Jesus did: Get behind me Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me: for you are not setting your mind on God’s interest, but man’s (Mat. 16:23).And finally, dear Lord, I pray, my children will know that Satan is a thief. He comes only to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). May they realize his goals are to rob us of our contentment, to put to death our productive time, and to utterly ruin our joy. May he not have this death grip on the hearts and lives of my children, I pray. Instead, may they realize why You have come, sweet Lord Jesus: that they might have life, and have it abundantly (John 10:10). May they choose life over death, light over darkness, and victory over defeat.

Amen

Scripture references in letter:

Job 1:6-22; Rom. 8:5-11; Col. 3:1-10; Col. 2:8-10; Ps. 18:3-19; Luke 4:18

Scripture references in prayer:

Eph. 2:1-5; Eph. 6:12; II Cor. 11:13-14; II Cor. 11:3; I John 5:12; John 8:12; Ps. 27:1-3; I John 5:4-5