I have been a minister for 15 years, and Christians often discuss Satan. In the New King James version, the word Satan is mentioned about 56 times; hence, Christians cannot avoid discussing him. One of the questions I get most is about His power and what He can do for people, especially Christians. Some people also ask whether Satan answers prayers because they know those who pray to Satan. Continue reading, and I will answer, “Can Satan bless us?”
Don Stewart, a theologian, implies that Satan is powerless and cannot bless or accomplish anything without depending on God. He uses the story of the temptation of Job and Jesus in Job 1:6 and Mathew 4:1 to demonstrate that Satan must seek permission from God because he is powerless. Therefore, since Satan is powerless, he cannot bless. Also, no verse or passage in the Bible indicates that Satan can bless us.
In this article, I will answer whether Satan can bless us. I will also discuss what the Bible says about Satan answering prayers and provide any biblical evidence about Satan answering prayers. To know about this and many more, continue reading.
Does the Bible say Satan can answer prayers too?
No bible verse says that Satan can answer prayer, nor is there a bible passage that implies that he can answer prayers. The Bible implies that God created everything, including Satan. It says that all things are visible, and God created none visible through Jesus Christ Colossians 1:16. The emphasis that God created all things means that even Satan is a creation of God. Being a creation, Satan lacks the power to answer prayers.
Don Stewart argues that being a creation, Satan does not have the power to answer prayers because he also depends on God for his existence. Without God, he cannot exist. He continues to say that Satan Must seek permission from God to do most things, especially in the world. For instance, he had to seek permission before testing Job. Also, before tempting Jesus, the Holy Spirit took Jesus to the desert. As such, Satan lacks the power to influence things in the world to the magnitude of answering prayers.
Is there biblical evidence that Satan blesses people?
There is no biblical evidence that Satan can bless people. Got Question Ministries define a blessing as something conducive to happiness or welfare. The fact that a blessing result in happiness is contrary to the nature of Satan, as demonstrated in the Bible. The Bible demonstrates Satan as a creature whose nature is to do the opposite of blessing. In John 10:10, the Bible describes Satan as a thief whose aim is to steal, kill and destroy. It says a thief comes to harm through stealing, killing, and destroying. In this context, Satan is the thief, and his character is to cause harm. Therefore, what Satan does is the opposite of blessing because it causes pain and suffering.
Satan uses pain and pleasure to blind humanity and make them miserable. John Piper notes that the Bible refers to him as the deceiver of the world. Anything Satan does is to deceive the world and use the opportunity to cause more pain and suffering to humanity. Therefore, he cannot desire to cause pain and, at the same time, desire to bring happiness. God is the one that brings happiness, and Satan works to counter that happiness with lies and pain.
Does the devil need God’s permission before answering a prayer?
The Bible does not indicate that Satan seeks permission to answer prayers but to cause pain and suffering. The only times that Satan sought permission was when he wanted to cause harm to people. For instance, when he wanted to test Job, as indicated in Job 1:12, which says that God permitted Satan to destroy all the property belonging to Job but not to touch his body. So, Satan did not ask for permission to answer Jobs’ prayers but to destroy his property to test his faith and commitment to God. Satan destroyed Job’s property, health, and the death of children.
Also, Satan asked for permission to harm Peter, as indicated in Luke 22:31-32, which says that Satan had asked to sift Peter like wheat. From Jesus’s reply, it seems like sifting like wheat meant causing harm to Peter. Therefore, in this verse, Satan asked for permission to harm Peter and not to answer his prayers.
In these instances, Satan asked permission to harm people but not to answer their prayers.
How do you know it’s Satan that answered your prayer?
Since Satan does not answer prayers, you should never think that he could be the one answering your prayers. You should rather think of him as hindering the answers to your prayers than answering them. The Bible demonstrates that Satan can hinder the answer to your prayers. For instance, the Bible implies that Satan hindered the answers to the prayers of Daniel. The Bible says in Daniel 10:12-13 that the angel sent by God carrying the answers to Daniel’s prayers was hindered from delivering the answer.
Got Question ministry indicates that the King of Persia indicated in this verse is an evil spiritual authority that operated over Persia—the evil spiritual authority operated under Satan.
Therefore, Satan works to hinder answers to prayer rather than answering them.
Should we pray silently so Satan doesn’t hear?
No, we should not pray silently in fear that Satan can hear us. Satan is not omniscient and omnipresent and hence does not have the power to always listen to whatever we say in prayers. Therefore, our manner of prayer should not be directed by the fear of words Satan. Satan is defeated and cannot harm those who believe in God, even if he is to hear what they are praying about.
As a devout Christian, I have always been passionate about the Christian faith. This inspired me to pursue a degree in Religious studies and a Masters in Theology in college. I have also been privileged to teach 4 Christian courses in a college and university. Since I am dedicated to spreading the word of God, I am actively involved in the Church. Additionally, I share his word online and cover diverse topics on the Christian faith through my platform. You can read more about me on the about us page.
