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Bible Question:
I have heard
a lot of people say that Satan is not able to hear our prayers
when we are praying in the Spirit. Where is the scriptural
reference?
Bible Answer:
There is no scriptural support for the statement that Satan
cannot hear our prayers when "we are praying in the
Sprit."
God and Satan.
We know that God hears our prayers and that He knows our thoughts.
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You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand
my thought afar off.
(NKJV) Psalm 139:2
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However, it is reasonable to conclude that Satan can hear
our prayers when they are spoken aloud since the angels can
have conversation with humans. The angel Gabriel visited the
virgin Mary and they understood one another (Luke 1:26-38).
Since Satan is an evil angel, we can conclude that he is able
to understand humans. But Satan does not need to hear our
prayers in order to devise evil against us. In fact, Satan
may laugh at our worries about him. He does not need to know
our thoughts or our prayers in order to plan evil against
us.
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And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan
has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat."
(NKJV) Luke 22:31
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He has his own plans.
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Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to
stand against the wiles of the devil.
(NKJV) Eph 6:11
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" In The Spirit."
The Bible never talks about Satan's ability to hear or not
to hear our prayers while we pray silently or "in the
Spirit." The only passage in the Bible that uses this
phrase is found in the "armor of God."
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Put on the full armour of God so that you can take your
stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle
is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers,
against the authorities, against the powers of this
dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil
in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armour
of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may
be able to stand your ground, and after you have done
everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt
of truth buckled round your waist, with the breastplate
of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted
with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith,
with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows
of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the
sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And
pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds
of prayers and requests. . . .
(NIV) Ephesians 6:11-18
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You may be interested in an explanation of the meaning
of the different pieces of the armor of God which are explained in
a previous question and answer
. The expression "pray in the Spirit" implies that
the person is filled with the Holy Spirit (Eph. 5:17-18), but
the Bible never says that this means that Satan cannot hear
our prayers.
Conclusion:
God has given us the only protection that we need against Satan.
We need to wear the armor of God. Prayer is only one part
of the armor - not all of it.
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