The Devil Wants You!: Unlocking the Secret to Winning Your Temptation Battles

By Dr. Randall J. Voorn

Say No to Satans temptations!

Are you struggling with temptation and sin? Do you want to learn how to resist Satan and say No to his temptations? If you answered yes, then this book will provide you with an in depth and insightful understanding of evil and temptation, and it will unlock the secret to winning your daily temptation battles.

Speaking from his lifelong temptation experience, and with a solid Scriptural foundation, Dr. Voorn has loaded this book with real-life temptation examples, practical applications and a personal temptation self-assessment.

This book will help you to:

Learn about the spiritual warfare that rages around and in you on a daily basis.

Recognize how and when Satan will tempt you.

Understand Satans Dirty Dozen temptation strategies.

Recognize that your temptation battles are mind games.

Learn how to develop a battle plan against Satans temptations.

Know how to engage and resist Satan when tempted.

Learn how to use your God-given spiritual warfare battle armor.

Conduct your personal temptation self-assessment.

Resist and overcome daily temptations so that you can better serve Jesus Christ in your journey to God.

Now, more than ever, it is time to deadbolt your spiritual warfare door as Dr. Voorn advises us. Why? Because the devil does want you! If you have ever found yourself slipping into the abyss of temptation or if you have been the target of others already corrupted by Satan, you need to read this book. Randy Voorn clearly details how Satan entangles our minds and teaches us how to shield his flaming arrows with bullet prayers! Think about it bullet prayers fast, strategic, and oh so powerful.

From the Foreword, by Dr. Lori M. Scrementi, Dean, School of Adult Learning, North Park University.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Apr 19, 2016
• ISBN: 9781512736441

Dr. Randall J. Voorn

Dr. Randall J. Voorn is Professor of Business Emeritus at Trinity Christian College, President of Voorn Associates, a global marketing training company, and an internationally recognized marketing trainer and consultant. Dr. Voorn has twenty plus years of corporate marketing and general management experience at three major U.S. companies, and twenty years of MBA level teaching experience as Adjunct Professors at both the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and the Lake Forest Graduate School of Management. Dr. Voorn also has military experience in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, and is the author of several business books, including the business-to-business best seller The Marketing Plan Made Simple. With a lifetime full of temptation encounters and experiences, including his travels and cultural experiences in nearly eighty countries, Dr. Voorn is uniquely qualified to share his voice and rich life experiences in this spiritual guide that ‘unlocks the secret to winning your temptation battles.’

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Copyright © 2016 Dr. Randall J. Voorn.

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Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission. NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered trademarks of Biblica, Inc. Use of either trademark for the offering of goods or services requires the prior written consent of Biblica US, Inc.

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ISBN: 978-1-5127-3645-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-3646-5 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-3644-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016905417

WestBow Press rev. date: 11/29/2016

Contents

Dedication

Foreword

Introduction

Chapter 1 You Are at War!

Chapter 2 What is Your Spiritual War Really All About?

Chapter 3 Who is Satan Anyway?

Chapter 4 The War of the Angels

Chapter 5 Biblical Spiritual Warfare Battlefields

Chapter 6 Today’s Spiritual Warfare Battlefields

Chapter 7 The Devil’s Dirty Dozen

Chapter 8 Spiritual Warfare Basic Training

Chapter 9 Developing Your Battle Plan

Chapter 10 Get Your Battle Armor Ready

Chapter 11 Spiritual Warfare Self-Assessment

Chapter 12 Conclusion and Victory in Jesus

Selected Bibliography

Appendix

About the Author

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

(Matthew 6:9b–13)

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my wife of forty six years who is now with the Lord. She struggled half of her adult life with diabetes, two heart attacks, cardiac arrest (was clinically dead for 7-8 minutes), four-way bypass surgery (which resulted in a combination pacemaker and defibrillator), cancer, partial blindness, stroke, and due to kidney failure (ESRD) was on dialysis for eight years. Never once did she complain about her illnesses and diseases, and she was the ultimate prayer warrior for others.

Foreword

Enlighten. Educate. Equip. Encourage. Energize.

Now, more than ever, it is time to deadbolt your spiritual warfare door as Dr.Voorn advises us. Why? Because the devil does want you! If you have ever found yourself slipping into the abyss of temptation or if you have been the target of others already corrupted by Satan, you need to read this book. Randy Voorn clearly details how Satan entangles our minds and teaches us how to shield his flaming arrows with bullet prayers! Think about it – bullet prayers – fast, strategic, and oh so powerful.

Prayer is vitally essential for defeating the devil and his demon followers! When it comes to fighting the temptations of the devil, the question Dr.Voorn wants us to ponder, is have we been using the right prayers. Have we been using God’s own words in our battles against such sinful temptations?

Learning how to strategically pray by using God’s own words is the key to unlocking the secret to winning your temptation battles. And this book provides that key! Reading The Devil Wants You! has re-opened my eyes to the spiritual warfare all around us and I know it will (re)open your eyes too!

Dr. Randy Voorn has been a wonderful colleague and trusted friend of mine for many years and it is a distinct honor to have been asked to write the foreword for his new book. So let me tell you just a bit about him. With more than 47 years of teaching and training experience in higher education, business and the military, Randy certainly has a gift and passion for imparting knowledge. Being a man of deep faith, who has experienced the temptations of and fought battles with Satan throughout his life, Randy has ultimately learned the secret to resisting those temptations. Randy’s desire to write this book was to bring spiritual warfare to the forefront as it is something that affects us every day but also something that we do not think affects us every day. Dr.Voorn knows better though and he wants to share his findings, experiences, insights, and solutions with both Christians and nonbelievers.

The Devil Wants You! has come at a very important time in my life as I recently have been under attack and realize now that the devil is the culprit. I believe the devil and his demons have been deeply rooted in the new work environment I entered into a few months ago. Initially, Satan’s hold was quite hidden but sorely festered in each person. I could feel it, though I could not see it.

After reading this book, I realized that my coming in to this battleground with a heart for God and a follower of His ways eventually angered Satan as he started to see all the damage he delighted in start to crumble. Shortly thereafter, he readied his demon army and made me his next target. With God more obvious among us, though, the hurt he caused has now been exposed. And as we work hard to mend the hurts and division that the devil created, I have faced firsthand his attack strategies and tactics. Satan continually lurks trying to maintain his stronghold on this now noticeable faith-filled department.

I must say, this book could not have come at a better time in my life. I have since donned my helmet and am learning the right prayers, as Dr.Voorn identifies, to help us defeat Satan while he employs his dirty dozen tactics and his underhanded attempts to rid this place of goodness and God’s love for each person in it. Because he has so entrenched some people for so long here, I would not have known how to unlock the secret to defeating Satan and winning our temptation battles without reading this book and acknowledging the spiritual warfare surrounding us and Satan’s desire to tear people away from each other and our Lord and Savior.

We haven’t totally won the war yet, but because of this guide, we have been able to strategically put a plan in place to do battle with the devil in the hopes of ridding the evil that lingers forever.

In Chapter Four, Dr.Voorn dramatically recounts a version of the war between the angels where Satan is defeated and he and his followers are cast away. God certainly relied on St. Michael during that battle and so we should too. In the Catholic faith, one of our specific prayers is to ask St. Michael to help in defending us. I offer this prayer below to add to your toolbox to use in your fight to defeat the devil in your life.

Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel:

Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray; and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the Power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits, who prowl through the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

I assure you that you will find The Devil Wants You! enlightening, educating, equipping, encouraging, and energizing as Dr.Voorn aptly puts it. Unlocking the secret to defeating Old Sulfur Breadth is within reach. Use this book as a daily spiritual guide and you will find out which prayers you need to know to defeat the devil and all his temptations. Put on your God-given armor, develop your own strategic battle plan and, most importantly, keep God foremost in your heart and mind. The devil may want you but once you unlock the secret, the devil won’t stand a chance!

Lori M. Scrementi, Ed.D.

Introduction

This Book is Personal – It’s for You

Are you struggling with daily temptations and sins? If you answered yes, then this book is for you. This book is about spiritual warfare and the Christian’s daily struggle with temptation and sin. It’s also about the most important fight of our lives. We’re in a battle for our minds, hearts and eventually the fate of our souls. Due to its importance, the topic of spiritual warfare and temptation should be on the front burner of everyone’s mind. The purpose of this book is to unlock the secret to winning our temptation battles, so that we can be more effective ambassadors for Christ.

The overall goals of the book are to enlighten, educate, equip, encourage and energize both Christians and nonbelievers about the temptation battles that exist in their daily lives. However, based on the book’s title, The Devil Wants You! Unlocking the Secret to Winning Your Temptation Battles, the book is primarily intended for you the reader, and will be very conversational in nature.

The book’s basic structure is as follows:

• Chapters 1-3 will enlighten you regarding the spiritual warfare that rages around and in you on a daily basis.

• Chapters 4-7 will educate you regarding Satan’s major temptation attack strategies and tactics.

• Chapters 8-11 will equip you to resist temptation with your spiritual warfare basic training, your battle plan, your God-given armor and your personal spiritual self-assessment.

• Chapter 12 will encourage and energize you as you continue to resist temptation and go forward in your journey to God.

This book is meant to be a daily, practical spiritual guide, and will help you and ordinary Christians to recognize temptations, engage the enemy to effectively resist those temptations, and free up their lives to better serve Jesus Christ on their journeys to God.

This Book Can Change Your Life!

Numerous books have been written on the topic of spiritual warfare, some of which are listed in this book’s bibliography. The majority of these books are very good in describing what spiritual warfare is all about, highlighting the importance of spiritual warfare in our lives, providing specific spiritual warfare examples, and recommending strategies for fighting Satan and his host of demons.

Some books are also excellent personal guides on how to fight and resist Satan, such as Tony Evans’ book Victory in Spiritual Warfare,¹ Chip Ingram’s The Invisible War,² Louis Cameli’s The Devil You Don’t Know,³ and Charles Kraft’s The Evangelical’s Guide to Spiritual Warfare.⁴ I have included some excellent quotes from these and other books in this book.

Few books, however, are really about knowing the enemy and understanding temptation from the enemy’s perspective. While we can’t get into Satan’s psychological black box, we can explore the unseen demonic realm and Satan’s behavior to understand his temptation strategies. Also, to my knowledge, no other book provides the reader with a comprehensive classification of Satan’s major temptation strategies and tactics. And lastly, none provide the reader with a comprehensive and practical personal spiritual warfare temptation self-assessment. This book attempts to fill those gaps, and is different in those three major ways.

First, to really know the enemy, this book looks at evil and temptation from the enemy’s perspective. To my knowledge, only Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost⁵ and C. S. Lewis’ classic The Screwtape Letters⁶ have attempted to look at evil and temptation from the enemy’s viewpoint. What were Lucifer’s motives for rebelling against God? What motivated Lucifer to attempt the unimaginable feat of dethroning God? What was Lucifer’s logic and what was he really thinking? What strategies and tactics did Lucifer use against Michael and his angels in the War of the Angels? What temptation strategies did Satan use against Adam and Eve, and against Jesus in the Wilderness? Clearly, understanding the enemy from his perspective is an important element for winning our temptation battles.

Second, this book provides a comprehensive real life classification of Satan’s temptation attack strategies and tactics. Numerous real-world temptation examples are also provided. The temptation examples will be invaluable to Christians as they wrestle with daily temptations. The examples should also be a wakeup call for nonbelievers.

Third, this book provides the reader with the opportunity to conduct a comprehensive personal temptation self-assessment. This will help readers to identify how, where and when Satan is and will be attacking them, and to develop focused counterattack strategies to resist and thwart the temptations. In so doing, this book is also a very important practical spiritual guide for daily Christian living.

The Book’s Three Major Themes

There are three major themes in this book. The first theme is to know your enemy so that you can effectively resist his temptation attacks. Sun Tzu, the ancient Chinese general and military strategist, gave us the classic military adage, know your enemy. Specifically he said: For if you know your enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. But Sun Tzu also warned: If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat.⁷ For both Christians and nonbelievers, knowing the enemy’s strategies and tactics before being attacked with temptations is unquestionably a matter of life and death. While this book emphasizes an understanding of the enemy, it in no way suggests any fascination with the evil one. We are to fear God (Psa. 25:14), and our focus in life is on Christ and his victory over evil, and not on the evil one or the powers of darkness.

The second theme is that the mind is the spiritual warfare battlefield. Temptation battles are fought in our minds, and Satan and his demon army are attempting to dump and park his evil thoughts in our minds on a daily basis. He wants to get into your mind, so that he influences and controls your thoughts, feelings, emotions, desires and motives. In this book you’ll learn how to prepare, guard and protect your mind from Satan’s evil thoughts and temptations.

The third theme is that God has already won his war against Satan. Any discussion of Satan must begin with God’s ultimate sovereignty and his control of his creation. God is the creator of the universe and is over and above all creation. He cannot and will not ever be defeated by anyone or anything. Satan’s already been defeated by Christ at Calvary. The theme of Christ’s victory over Satan and all evil spirits is embedded in every chapter of this book.

Deliverance from Temptation

This book is also about deliverance, but not in the sense of a deliverance ministry that deals with demonic bondages, demon-possessed, or demonized people, and the driving out of demons. As a spiritual guide, this book is intended to help people resist and overcome Satan’s daily flaming arrows (temptations). We know this is of critical importance because Jesus taught us to pray the Lord’s Prayer, and the last petition of that prayer is: Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one (Matt. 6:13).

This book is consistent with Christ’s prayer command, and is intended to equip and arm people so they can defend themselves and stand firm against Satan’s temptations. The book’s emphasis is on delivering people from Satan’s temptations and strongholds, and freeing them from spiritual slavery. This book is about how Christians recognize and resist temptation so that they can be delivered from the evil one’s temptations. It’s also about delivering nonbelievers from their temptation and sin bondage.

In short, this book is about temptation deliverance from the powers of darkness (Col. 1:13). In so doing, this book will help Christians become better ambassadors for Christ on their journeys to God.

This Book is for Both Christians and Nonbelievers

This book is intended to help all Christians, both Protestants and Catholics alike, whether they call themselves Evangelicals, Pentecostals or Charismatics. If you are experiencing spiritual warfare in your life and you are struggling with life’s issues, problems, temptations and sins, then this book will help you understand why those problems exist and address how to engage the enemy to resist his temptation attacks.

This book is also for the nonbeliever whose life is broken and thirsts for the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Lastly, this book is for anyone who has a natural interest in the general topic of spiritual warfare.

I hope and pray this book will be a valuable guide to those who realize that their lives are a mess, and desire to do something about their daily temptation battles and sins.

The Devil’s Names

A word of clarification regarding my use of the Devil’s names. I use the name Lucifer only when he was in Heaven. After God banished him from Heaven and gave him an eternal and irrevocable name change and demotion, I use the name Satan as he operates and prowls around in our earthly realm. The word Devil is used to generally describe Satan and his demonic powers of darkness.

Like most authors, when referencing Lucifer, Satan or the Devil, since they are proper nouns and to be grammatically correct, I intentionally capitalize those words. By capitalizing those words I in no way give honor to them. Satan has already been defeated and strategically dishonored by God and Christ’s victory on the cross at Calvary. Satan deserves no honor, no praise and no glory. Throughout this book I intentionally and derogatorily refer to him as old sulfur breadth, which is the only recognition he deserves.

Acknowledgments

Many thanks goes to all of the Westbow Press staff who guided me through this book’s submission, design and publication process, and endured my technical inadequacies throughout the whole process.

I also want to thank the interviewees for sharing their spiritual warfare examples, and thank others, such as Kathy Davis and Jessica Wiersma of Trinity Christian College, for their invaluable manuscript formatting assistance.

I also thank Martin Ozinga III for his interest in the topic of spiritual warfare and his endorsement of this book, and a very special thanks goes to Dr. Lori M. Scrementi for writing the book’s foreword and for her special friendship.

Endnotes

¹ Tony Evans, Victory in Spiritual Warfare (Nashville, Tenn: LifeWay Press, 2011).

² Chip Ingram, The Invisible War (Grand Rapids, Mich: Baker Books, 2015).

³ Louis J. Cameli, The Devil You Don’t Know (Ave Maria Press, Notre Dame, Ind: 2011).

⁴ Charles H. Kraft, The Evangelical’s Guide to Spiritual Warfare (Bloomington, Minn: Chosen Books, 2015).

⁵ John Milton, Paradise Lost (New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, 1975).

⁶ C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters, http://www.truechristianity.info/en/the_screwtape_letters_download.php (accessed October 4, 2015).

⁷ Sun Tzu, The Art of War (New York, NY: Chartwell Books, 2012), p. 21.

Chapter 1

You Are at War!

(The Enemy is Targeting You)

And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.

(Genesis 3:15)

Chapter 1

You Are at War!

(The Enemy is Targeting You)

A Billion Babies Are Murdered!

Have you ever wondered about all the issues, problems and sins that exist in our daily lives? When we listen to or watch the news, it’s all about wars, murders, terrorist attacks, shootings, drug arrests and rapes. What’s wrong with our culture and world, and what causes all these problems?

Below is a list of problems and sins that I have heard of or recorded from local news reports over a one-month time period in mid-2015. Do any of the following exist in your life?

• Do you have serious financial problems?

• Are you angry or bitter about something?

• Do you have hateful thoughts about someone?

• Do you cheat on your taxes?

• Do you have unmanageable gambling debts?

• Have you recently lied? (How do you define lying?)

• Have you lied when you filled out an application form?

• Are you arrogant or conceited and full of your own pride?

• Do you have any relationship problems?

• Do you have family members who don’t speak to each other?

• Do you argue and fight with your coworkers?

• If you are married, have you and your spouse stopped praying together?

• Are you separated or divorced?

• Have you had or are you having an extra-marital affair?

• Are you a thief? (How do you define theft and stealing?)

• Do you or have you hit your children or spouse?

• Have you ever raped or abused anyone? (How do you define rape and abuse?)

• Are you living with someone you are not married to (i.e., ‘living in sin’)?

• Do you have a sexually transmitted disease (STD)?

• Do you have ailments and health issues?

• Do you have cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease?

• Do you have a mental disease? Are you bi-polar?

• Are you struggling with depression?

• Have you ever used a prostitute? Are you a prostitute?

• Have you ever been convicted of a crime (misdemeanor or felony)?

• Have you served time in jail or prison? Are you currently in prison?

• Is your life all about money, sex, food or materialistic belongings?

• Are you addicted to alcohol or cigarettes?

• Are you hooked on drugs? Are you a pot head, addicted to crack cocaine or on meth? Are you injecting heroin into your body?

• Are you a slave to pornography? What about R- and X-rated movies?

• Have you been sucked in by Satanism, the occult or witchcraft?

• Have you been duped into astrology, horoscopes or numerology?

• Have you been hoodwinked into magic or psychic readings?

• Have you murdered someone? (How do you define murder?)

• Are you homosexual? What about bisexual or transgender?

• Do you take the Lord’s (the Father’s, Jesus Christ’s or the Holy Spirit’s) name in vain?

• Does nearly every sentence you utter include the f-word or some other obscenity?

• Are you a new age follower?

• Did you know someone who has committed suicide?

By now you might be asking, What’s the purpose of this long laundry list of problems? I haven’t hit my spouse, I don’t drink, I haven’t been in jail and I’m not on drugs. So why the big list? My answer is two-fold. First, the list is for you to realize how prevalent these problems and sins are in our daily lives. If you have a Bible, please read Genesis 6:13 in which God tells us that the earth is filled with violence. The list proves that is true. Second, I want you to think about why all these problems and sins exist. What causes them to exist? What do you think?

The title of this chapter section is A Billion Babies Are Murdered! Do you know that in 2015 (as of late October) more than 888,000 babies were murdered by abortion in the United States? Since Roe vs. Wade (1973), 58,000,000 babies have been murdered in the United States, and since 1980 more than 1,352,000,000 babies have been murdered worldwide.¹

Aren’t you puzzled as to why more than a billion babies have been murdered by abortion, and why all these other problems and sins exist? Many of them may not exist in your life, but are you sure that none of the problems in the big list above exist in your life? If you lie to friends, cheat on your taxes or argue with family, friends and coworkers, shouldn’t you be concerned as to why you lie, cheat and argue?

Who and what is the cause of all evil and our problems and sins? Is it possible that they are caused by the powers of darkness (demonic forces) that are influencing our minds and our behaviors on a daily basis?

Do you think the Devil could be orchestrating all the world’s abortions? Is the Devil behind the greatest slaughter of human beings in the history of mankind? If you said no, then you’d better wake up! Satan deceives and seduces women and men into thinking that a fetus is not a life because it is not yet born, and to think that a woman’s right to choose trumps a life that God created.

Here is a reality check. God created life at conception and that fetus is a live person. The fetus is alive and living in its mother’s womb until such time as that baby can live on its own. That fetus, or baby, has a heart that pumps blood through its tiny veins. That baby’s circulatory system and urinary tract are fully functioning. Do you really think abortion is about a woman’s right to choose?

I think the Devil has an abortion tally sheet in Hades. Every time a baby (fetus) is murdered by abortion the Devil smiles and puts another mark on his tally sheet. Can you imagine the size of that tally sheet?

Furthermore, it’s getting worse because baby body parts are being barbarically harvested!² If you advocate abortion, then you should know that the Devil has a very evil stronghold in your mind. Stop killing babies! Have you heard about adoption?

Don’t you wonder why abortion and all these other problems and sins exist, especially if some exist in your life? Do you think the root cause of all these problems and sins could be a real, active Devil in our lives?

The Devil Wants You!

You may be asking, Randy, are you serious? Are you suggesting that depression, cancer, diabetes and abortion are all caused by the Devil? Regarding the diseases, the Devil may have caused them. Some of our diseases are the result of our body’s natural decay process, but you’ll learn in chapter three more about Satan’s powers and capabilities, including inflicting physical and emotional problems on humans. Clearly, murder is contrary to God’s Word, so the Devil has engineered all of the world’s abortion murders.

Here’s another reality check for you. The Devil is behind most of our problems and he is the root cause of all the evil in our world. Are you in fear of something? Do you have nightmares? Are you taking medication for anxiety or depression? Are you watching porn? Are you in an unhappy marriage? Are you drunk every day? Do you miss work due to being high or drugged out? Is your family characterized by arguments and fighting? If you answered yes to any of these questions or if any of the problems in the big list above pertains to you, then wake up! Satan has a stronghold, or strongholds, on you!

This book’s title, The Devil Wants You! Unlocking the Secret to Winning Your Temptation Battles, implies that you have serious daily temptation battles,