Does the Devil Read My Mind?

Kelly is seated in her favorite seat in the school bus waiting for everyone to board. Today it’s different since the bus is not going on the home route as usual; today they are going on a Christian Union retreat at the Grand Park. Looking outside the window, she can’t help but notice the excitement in the faces of the Christian union members as they mill around the bus to board. “Is this seat taken?” A lady’s voice asks her. “No you can sit,” she replies without turning to look at who it is. She’s busy looking at something else outside. Passing by is a brother she hadn’t seen before. But it is not the fact that he is new that interested her. It is because she thinks he is very cute and handsome. Who could he be? Can they meet and talk? Maybe she can take advantage of the trip and talk to him. Just them an inner voice of reason brings her back to reality. She reminds herself who she is and what she should do to know Gods will. During the retreat, she contains herself and stays composed. But at one time she turns to pick a bowl from the serving table and catches the ‘new’ brother starring right at her. She’ so frightened and confused that she rubs her eyes with her fingers just in case she didn’t see it right. Is this God or the devil? Is it possible that the devil read her mind, and he is now laying a trap in her path to shame her among the brethren? What would you advice her in this case?

Have you ever planned to do something for God and just before you do it, the devil makes it impossible for you? Maybe you planned to wake up early to study and spend time before God and you wake up very late to find the alarm battery died. It could have died any other day, but it didn’t, not until you chose to seek God in prayer. There are times I have felt fed up with going to church late and decided to wake up early henceforth. On the day I start implementing my new resolution, I suddenly can’t find one shoe, or my cufflink buttons, or my favorite tie, or just something to make sure I won’t go to church early. And I have to admit, I have myself wondered, does the devil read my mind? This is what I found out.

There is no scripture that directly answers this question in the Bible. But various instances can help us understand this fact well. We do know that God is all present – omnipresent, all able – omnipotent, and all knowing – omniscient. “Then they prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen,” (Acts 1:24). The angels of God, on the other hand, are not all knowing since they are like us; that is why we have various references of angels preventing human subjects from bowing to them. But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your fellow prophets and with all who keep the words of this scroll. Worship God,” (Rev 2:9) But since they are spirit, they can be able to communicate to us even in our dreams. Now, the Devil being an angel himself, though a fallen one has the ability to put thoughts and ideas in our mind. Whether or not we accept those thoughts depend on us, because we have the ability to cast them down (II Cor 10:5).

However on the question on whether he can read minds, the answer is no; for several reasons. One, angels can’t read minds. Two, if the devil did know how to read mind, he would have known that tempting Jesus in the wilderness was futile since Jesus already had answers for him. Thirdly, the Bible says that we are drawn to sin by our own lusts and evil desires. The devil may only entice us when he observes something in us and instills thoughts in our minds based on our behavior and actions. The conclusion is that the devil is a master planner and a skilled observer. After many days of observing your actions, inclinations and desire, it is easy for him to know the kind of thoughts to plant in your mind. He will ensure he appeals to the greed and lusts of your flesh and hope you will embrace them. Now do you know what advice to give Kelly?

“No one is a firmer believer in the power of prayer than the devil; not that he practices it, but he suffers from it.” - Guy H. King Quotes.

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