Complacent Christians probably present little threat to Satan. It is when you begin living by faith that he will vent his fury on you. It should be obvious that Satan fears the believer who is living by faith because faith is the avenue through which God works.

    Be certain of the truth of these three passages as you begin your life of faith:

    Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith (I Peter 5:8-9).

    "When [the Devil] lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies" (John 8:44).

    But encourage one another daily...so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness (Hebrews 3:13).

    If you are living by faith, you are constantly under Satan's surveillance. He wants to destroy you. You are now in intense spiritual warfare, though you always have God's protection.

    Satan's primary tactic is deception. He is the "father of lies." He is the Deceiver. He can show a marked degree of success among complacent evangelical Christians because they have been deceived into believing that comfortable and safe Christianity is the norm. Satan has also convinced many that religious behavior and organizational church activity is the epitome of the Christian life. This notion—with its accompanying activity—takes the believer's attention away from an intimate faith in Almighty God.

    But if you are pursuing faith, you are going to break free of Satan's bondage of complacency. So what defense will he use now?

    True to his character, he will use every means at his disposal to deceive you. Think about deception and how it can defeat your life of faith.

SELF DOUBT: "I don't have enough strength to live by faith." "I am only a layman. I have no special training." "This isn't how other Christians live. Why should I think I am right?"

FAILURE AND SIN: "I have honestly tried to live by faith before but I just couldn't succeed." "God remembers that specific sin; He just couldn't accept my faltering faith now."

PRESENT LIMITATIONS: "I need to provide for my family. I don't have time (or can't afford) to live by faith." "My family wouldn't be supportive; I don't have a place to pray privately."

DOUBT AFTER BEGINNING: "I think I started okay, but then I committed a terrible sin. I just can't continue." "I am trying to live by faith, but nothing is happening." "I thought God was leading me to ask for something important, but He didn't answer." "My prayer life is still too ordinary. I expected it to become intense."

    Satan's primary deception is to focus your attention on your ability. Of course you can't live by faith. But you are not the Author and Perfecter of your faith. Jesus is. Can Jesus strengthen you so that you can live by faith? He most certainly can!

    Let me give you a reminder that I personally use when I face doubts or uncertainty regarding my faith:

1. Does Jesus have the power to complete this task? Yes, He does because He had enough power to create the entire Universe.

2. Does Jesus care enough for me personally to complete this task? Yes, He cares for me enough that He paid a terrible price for my Salvation. Because of that, He must also care for everything else in my life in order to protect His investment.

3. Does Jesus have the time to become involved in this task? Yes, He is Infinite (Absolute). Though this task will require His attention and effort, it will in no way deplete His resources.

4. Does Jesus want to do what I am asking? Of these four questions, this is the only question that might possibly be answered "no." This last question must be answered after carefully considering Scripture and the Spirit's leading.

    Anything Satan would do to convince you that you cannot live by faith is his classic technique of deception. Jesus has the power to give you faith. Jesus cares for you enough to give you all of the time and help necessary to enable you to live by faith. Finally, Scripture is abundantly clear that Jesus wants you to live by faith. Therefore, nothing but your unwillingness to let Jesus produce faith in you will prevent you from living by faith.

    When we consider spiritual warfare, we usually think of direct confrontation with antagonists of the Gospel. When we read the book of Acts, we certainly see this conflict between believers and their enemies. Paul and others were flogged, heckled, stoned, and rejected by those resisting the Gospel. However, what was Satan attempting to do when Paul was imprisoned for two years in Caesarea, followed by two more years of house arrest in Rome? With the exception of the trip between Caesarea and Rome, Paul was probably safer and more free of physical trauma during his incarceration than at any time during his active preaching. Though we can only surmise, it was probably the monotonous routine of prison life that Satan was attempting to use to reduce Paul to ineffectiveness. Instead, Paul wrote his four Prison Epistles!

    There may be times when you will face clear opposition to your life of faith from antagonists to the Gospel. These will be times when you can identify your involvement in spiritual warfare.

    There will be another form of spiritual warfare which will catch you by surprise if you are not prepared for it. True to his character, the Deceiver distorts even spiritual warfare. He wants to defeat you, but he knows that if the battle looks like spiritual warfare, you will be more dependent on God. So his solution may be to disguise spiritual warfare as temporal concerns. If he can defeat you through financial, health, family, or professional concerns, he can still keep you from an effective life of faith. But he will be able to do so without arousing your awareness that it is spiritual warfare and that you need God to deliver you.

    By no means is all human hardship the result of spiritual warfare. Even if you are not living by faith, calamity will come as a result of the general condition of mankind. On the other hand, if you are living by faith, you must carefully evaluate your life and determine—if possible—if you are a special target of Satan's attacks.

    If you are living by faith, it is likely that Satan will use as many hardships in your temporal life as possible in order to defeat you. Be prepared!

    Be cautious, however. Do not blame everything on Satan. Remember what was also said in Chapter 11 (Faith and Adversity) about God's use of adversity as a tool to promote your growth in faith.