February 08 2026

Sunday February 08

Satan’s Strategy is to Make Us Doubt God

Ephesians 6:16

“Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.”

Today we are continuing in Ephesians 6:16, where the Apostle Paul said, “Above all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.” Above all—most importantly. All the other pieces of the armor are important, but my friend, this piece is “above all”. It is most important. If we don’t know how to hold up the shield of faith, and what that means, we will not be able to stand against the wiles and deceitfulness of the devil. Yesterday we talked about the darts of the devil. Today I want to talk about his strategy.

The strategy of the devil is to cause us to doubt God—to doubt God and His truth and His Word. You see, at the heart of every temptation is the same battle: Will I trust God and His truth in His Word, or will I trust the devil and his lies? I have to make a choice based on who I want to believe. This goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3:1–5. Satan’s first temptation was not merely about fruit. If you remember, it was about faith. “Did God really say? Did God really mean what He said?” In other words, he attacked the goodness of God. He attacked the government of God—the authority of God, and he attacked the goals of God, the purpose of God for Adam and Eve’s lives.

My friend, tragically, Eve let go of the Word of God. She stopped trusting God, and the fiery dart struck its target. This connects to what we read in 1 John 2:15–16: “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” And then he goes on to say in verse 16:

“For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world.” That’s exactly what Satan uses in his temptations.

Notice in Genesis 3:6, “When Eve saw that the fruit was good for food, she saw it was pleasant to the eyes, and then it was desirable to make one wise.” Satan had told her, “If you eat that fruit, you’ll be like God, and you can make your own decisions.” What was the attack?

· The lust of the flesh: good for food—for the body. Yes, it’ll make you feel good.

· The lust of the eyes: she saw it was pleasant to the eyes. It looked good.

· And then, of course, it was the pride of life: “You’ll be like God. You can make your own decisions”

Interesting—Satan used the same strategy against Jesus in the wilderness in Matthew 4:3–9. If you put it all together, you see again it was an attack against God’s program for Jesus’ life. He wanted to tempt Christ to doubt the Father’s provision: “turn these stones into bread”. To doubt the Father’s protection: “jump off this high wall”.  And to doubt the Father’s plan: “I’ll give you all the kingdoms of the world if you fall down and worship me”. In all three temptations, again we see that they all had to do with the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.

But remember: every time Jesus responded with Scripture. Satan also used Scripture, just like he did in Genesis 3:1–5: “Did not God say?” He used Scripture with Jesus. But every time, Jesus responded with Scripture, and He stood firm behind the shield of faith. He trusted the Father completely, and that’s how we overcome as well. My friend, be aware of the strategy of Satan. He is going to do everything he can to cause you to doubt the Word of God.

Again, we’ve said it so often already: you first must know the Word of God. You have to have it hidden in your heart. You have to have it in your mind. You have to bathe in that Word each day. Every morning I pray the Lord’s Prayer: “Give us this day our daily bread.” I need that Word today. I take time every morning. Many of the people over the years that I have been associated with as a pastor, I’ve encouraged them: “Get in the Word of God every day. Take a few minutes.”

Yesterday I heard a powerful testimony from a wonderful businessman named Andy at our prayer breakfast, telling us how God is working in his life this year. He said, “I found out that I have to get up and spend time in the Word of God before I start my day.” My friend, that’s how you arm yourself with the shield of faith—above all. May God help us to take heed to these words today.

God bless you, and may you have a wonderful, wonderful day.