1 Peter 5:8-9
Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith...
The devil is a liar. (John 8:44). He will whisper all sorts of half-truths—seeing who will take the bait. He usually won't tell us outright lies because he knows we will not accept outright lies. But, if there is a hint of truth in it, he will put it out there and he waits to see who will believe it. If we believe it, then he has us. If we continue to believe it and act upon it, he will lead us into sin and cause all sorts of trouble in our lives.
We are told in 1 Peter 5:8-9: "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith..." God tells us what the devil will do—is doing. He prowls around LIKE a roaring lion. Here's the thing—the devil wants us to think he is powerful and that we can't resist him (that we have no power to stand up to him). It's like a bully—he is really good at words and puffing up to scare us. But God tells us to resist him. How do we do this? By standing firm in the faith.
What does that mean? How do we do that? God tells us how in Ephesians 6:10-18, when he talks about the Armor of God. He tells us to: "be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes." We can't face the devil ourselves. We are to put on the full armor of God. God allows us to draw from his resources—from his strength to protect us. He goes on in verses 10-18 to describe each piece of his armor. Here's the thing. We have to PUT ON the armor of God intentionally. If we don't do that, we are leaving ourselves vulnerable to the devil's schemes. When we put on the Armor of God, we are able to resist the devil.
James 4:7 tells us: "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." When we submit to God, we are giving up our rights to God and submitting our lives—all aspects—to him. We are trusting him with everything in our lives, ourselves, our wants, habits, relationships, etc. We relinquish control of our lives. It may not look like what we want—sometimes what we want will not come to pass. Regardless, we are trusting that God is good and he has good for us.
We resist the devil in that humble position of submission to God. God says that when we do this, the devil will flee from us. Wow! The devil knows he has no real power over us. We are in Christ and we are in the strength and power of God when we believe in him and submit to him. The devil will flee from us because he is scared of God—not us.
So, realize the devil is a liar. Submit to God. Put on the full armor of God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
I encourage you to read the Armor of God in Ephesians 6:10-18. Become familiar with it. Read it, pray it. Live it out. Put on the full Armor of God daily. Then, you can stand firm in the faith.