The Bible gives us much help with respect to the prayer that accuses Satan. Now we want to briefly consider a few passages in the Scriptures that show us the prayer that opposes Satan.
We recall that in Genesis 3 the devil worked for the first time. Later, God judged him and cursed him. From this we know that Satan is cursed by God. In this curse, God clearly foretold that the head of the devil would be crushed by the Lord Jesus on the cross. Hence, when we suffer in his hands, we can apply this judgment. We can pray, "God, curse Satan once more so that he cannot work at will. You cursed him in the garden of Eden already; I pray that You will curse him afresh. Put him under the power of the cross again so that he cannot move." The thing that the devil is the most afraid of is God's curse. Once God curses him, he will not dare to harm us anymore.
Mark 1 records that when the Lord Jesus was casting out the demons, He forbade them to speak. Hence, when Satan utilizes men to speak many words of confusion or violence, we can pray to the Lord to stop the mouth of the devil and to shut him up. Sometimes while we are preaching the gospel or teaching others the truth, we can pray to the Lord to stop the devil from opening his mouth to our listeners or saying anything that would cause the listeners to doubt or oppose the Lord's word. We recall the story of Daniel in the lion's den. One prayer which is always very effective is, "Lord, shut the mouths of the lions so that they will not harm Your people."
There is another wonderful prayer revealed in Matthew 12. The Lord tells us that in order to enter into the house of the strong man and plunder his goods, one must first bind the strong man. We know that the strong man the Lord speaks of here is Satan. Before we can overcome Satan, we have to bind him and stop him from his work. Of course, we ourselves cannot bind him and strip him of his freedom to oppose our work, but we can pray. In our prayer, we can ask God to bind Satan and strip him of the strength to fight against us. Whenever we are to work, if we first truly bind Satan with our prayer, our victory will be sure. Hence, we should always pray, "Lord, bind the strong man."
First John 3:8 says, "The Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil." Hence, whenever we see the works of the devil, we can pray, "O God, Your Son was manifested to destroy the works of the devil. I thank You because on the cross He has annulled the works of the devil. But the devil is still working. Annul his work in me, and annul his intention of working through my work. Annul his work in my environment; annul all of his works." When we pray, we can pray according to the condition at the time. If we see Satan working in us, our family, our office, our school, or our nation, we can ask God to annul his work in that place.
Jude 9 mentions one sentence which Michael the archangel spoke to Satan, "The Lord rebuke you." After this word, Satan was not able to oppose him anymore. Hence, this sentence can also be used in our prayer to the Lord as our opposition against Satan. We can ask the Lord to rebuke Satan. We should know that the Lord hears our prayer. If we ask Him to rebuke, He will surely rebuke. We should also believe that when the Lord rebukes Satan, he will not be able to withstand it. Satan is afraid of the Lord's rebuke. We see that when the Lord rebuked the winds and the waves on the sea, they immediately obeyed Him and became calm. Hence, when the Lord rebukes Satan, it must be equally effective. If we read the Psalms we will see the effectiveness of the Lord's rebuke. Psalm 18:15 says, "The river beds were seen,/And the foundations of the habitable land were laid bare,/At Your rebuke, O Jehovah." Psalm 76:6 says, "At Your rebuke, O God of Jacob,/Both chariot and horse fall into deep sleep." Psalm 80:16 says, "They perish at the rebuke of Your countenance." Psalm 104:7 says, "At thy rebuke they [the waters] fled." Psalm 106:9 says, "He rebuked the Red sea also,/and it was dried up." These verses show us the power of the Lord's rebuke. Hence, if the Lord rebukes Satan, surely Satan will not be able to withstand it. Whenever Satan harasses us, we can ask the Lord to rebuke him.
Matthew 16 records Peter through his natural affection holding back the Lord Jesus from going to the cross. The Lord rebuked him, saying, "Get behind Me, Satan!" (v. 23). Every time Satan uses our relatives or natural affections to stop us from doing God's will, we can pray to God to put Satan behind us.
In Matthew 6 the Lord Jesus teaches us to pray: "Deliver us from the evil one" (v. 13). We do not know when the evil one will come to oppress us, but we can always apply this expression in our prayer.
Colossians 2:15 says of the Lord Jesus, "Stripping off the rulers and the authorities, He made a display of them openly, triumphing over them in it." When we see the power of Satan on the rampage, we can stand on the foundation of the cross and ask the Lord to once again shame the devil. He was shamed on the cross already. Therefore, based on his first shaming, we can ask the Lord to shame him once more. If he is shamed, he will not be able to lift up his head or harm us anymore. Hence, we should pray to the Lord, "Lord, we are now standing on the foundation of the cross and are asking You to shame the devil once more."
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Watchman Nee (1903 - 1972)
Was a church leader and Christian teacher who worked in China during the first half of the 20th century. In 1922, he initiated church meetings in Fuzhou that may be considered the beginning of the local churches. During his 30 years of ministry, Nee published many books expounding the Bible, including The Normal Christian Life and The Normal Christian Church Life. He established churches throughout China and held many conferences to train Bible students and church workers.Following the Communist Revolution, Nee was persecuted for his faith. He spent the last 20 years of his life in prison. Nee was honored by Christianity Today magazine as one of The 100 Most Influential Christians of the Twentieth Century.
Watchman Nee was a Chinese Christian author and church leader during the early 20th Century. He spent the last 20 years of his life in prison and was severely persecuted by the Communists in China. Together with Wangzai, Zhou-An Lee, Shang-Jie Song, and others, Nee founded the The Church Assembly Hall, later which would be also known as the "Local churches."
Watchman Nee became a Christian in 1920 at age 17 and began writing in the same year. In 1921, he met the British missionary M. E. Barber, who was a great influence on him. Through Miss Barber, Nee was introduced to many of the Christian writings which were to have a profound influence on him and his teachings. Nee attended no theological schools or Bible institutes. His knowledge was acquired through studying the Bible and reading various Christian spiritual books. During his 30 years of ministry, beginning in 1922, Nee traveled throughout China planting churches among the rural communities and holding Christian conferences and trainings in Shanghai. In 1952 he was imprisoned for his faith; he remained in prison until his death in 1972.
Watchman Nee became a Christian in mainland China in 1920 at the age of seventeen and began writing in the same year.
Throughout the nearly thirty years of his ministry, Watchman Nee was clearly manifested as a unique gift from the Lord to His Body for His move in this age.
In 1952 he was imprisoned for his faith; he remained in prison until his death in 1972. His words remain an abundant source of spiritual revelation and supply to Christians throughout the world.