The reason we fear to go out after dark is not that we may be set upon by bands of evangelicals and forced to read the New Testament, but that we may be set upon by gangs of feral young people who have been taught that nothing is superior to their own needs or feelings.

Jesus' prayer for Peter shows the same pattern in sharp relief. Satan partially got his way with Peter, sifting him like wheat. But in answer to Jesus' prayer, the sifting rid Peter of his least attractive qualities: blustery self-confidence, a chip on his shoulder, a propensity to violence.

We live on a planet that has been invaded by evil forces, and God's followers are called to be part of the solution.

And above all, we must reduce drug use for one great moral reason: Over time, drugs rob men, women and children of their dignity, and of their character. Illegal (and legal) drugs are the enemies of ambition and hope. And when we fight against drugs, we fight for the souls of our fellow Americans

Strategy 1—Against Your Passion He seeks to dim your whole desire for prayer, dull your interest in spiritual things, and downplay the potency of your most strategic weapons (Eph. 6:10—20). Strategy 2—Against Your Focus He disguises himself and manipulates your perspective so you end up focusing on the wrong culprit, directing your weapons at the wrong enemy (2 Cor. 11:14). Strategy 3—Against Your Identity

There's a sneaky, malicious enemy that you are always in a battle with—even now.

In spiritual warfare, as we detect enemy activity and deploy the various pieces of armor, our prayers need to be fervent and specific, strategic and personal, tied to the specific needs arising at that specific occasion.

In order to live in victory, you must call the enemy's bluff, pull the curtain back, open up your spiritual eyes, and remain continually aware of the one who's truly behind a lot of the stuff you're always blaming on your circumstances, your upbringing, your boyfriend, or whoever. Even on yourself.

the battles your enemy wages against you—especially the most acute, consistent ones—possess a personality to them, an intimate knowledge of who you are and the precise pressure points where you can most easily be taken down.

If all we're doing is flinging words and emotions in all directions without any real consideration for the specific ways the enemy is targeting us and the promises of God that apply to us, we're mostly just wasting our time.

The enemy) laughs at your attempts to fix your own issues with timely words and hard work - tactics that might affect matters for a moment but can't begin to touch his underhanded, cunning efforts down where the root issues lie.

Satan can be the "accuser of [the] brethren" all he wants to be (Rev. 12:10), but he can't change what the cross has done to throw all his accusations out of court—every last one of them—on an undeniably divine technicality.