As we have seen, that is the tactic he used to get Adam and Eve to disobey. This is the strategy the devil tried on Jesus when he tempted Him after a 40-day wilderness fast. The devil will try to get you to question the authority and accuracy of what God has said.
Why does he do this? It is because God's promises are your weapons against him. Armed with the promises in the Bible, there is nothing you cannot do or be.
Faith in God's promises moves mountains, heals cancers, gets bills paid, restores marriages, and changes the world. So what will the devil use to try to neutralize this power? He will use fear, the reciprocal of faith. Specifically, fear that God's promises are not true.
This battle primarily takes place between your ears—in your mind. It is the first place doubt and fear are going to show up when you begin to stand on God's Word. If you lose it in your thought life, you have lost the war.
For example, if you are standing on God's promises of provision and prosperity to get your needs met, the first time a bill comes due that you cannot pay, you will stand strong. You will say, "My God supplies all my needs" (Phil. 4:19).
But if a week or two goes by, and you still have not been able to pay that bill, the devil is going to slide up to you and whisper, "Maybe it's not working. Maybe you are not holy enough." And you may say, "No, sir! I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, and my bill is going to be paid."
But in the back of your mind, perhaps a little doubt has been planted.
If the day the bill is due rolls around, and there is still no sign of God's provision, the devil will turn the pressure up a notch or two. "What are your friends going to think? You told them all that Jesus was going to pay your bills," the enemy will whisper. "Sure, this 'faith stuff' works for other people, but it doesn't work for you."
At that point, unless you have developed your "faith muscles" and trained your thinking, doubts are going to begin to flood your mind. As we have seen, where doubt is, can fear be far behind? Once you are into fear, you can forget about seeing the miraculous provision of God. You have stepped over into the realm of sin and death.
What was the point of the attack? It was to get your mind to entertain a shadow of a doubt concerning the promises of God. How do you counter that? You can counter doubt in several ways:
Take Thoughts Captive
First, you must take every thought captive to the obedience of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 10:5). When the enemy calls into question the truth of God's Word, do what Jesus did. Come right back at him with a scripture, "It is written, Mr. devil: So shall my word be that go forth out of my mouth; it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it" (Isa. 55:1).
Remain Steadfast and Patient
Secondly, add to your faith the force of patience. Patience means remaining consistently the same. Hebrews 6:12 shows us how these two powerful forces work together. "That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises."
You must take the position which says, "devil, I believe God's Word, and I am not moved by what I see, hear, or feel. I do not care how long it takes for the truth to manifest, I will not be moved off of my confidence in God's Word."
That is the kind of dogged determination the Apostle Paul wrote about in Galatians 6:9. "And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." Never forget, "due season" always comes. If you will not faint, you will see that due season of harvest. Things in the spiritual realm take time on earth to put into place.
God promised Abraham that he would be a father. That did not happen overnight. In fact, it took many years. God told Noah that rain was coming, but it did not come in a month, a year, or even a century. However, the rain was right on time—God's time.
There is a due season for everything, and your due season will come, if you will not faint in your mind through doubt.
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers