Can The Devil Answer Prayer?

This seems like a rhetorical question, but I believe it’s one worth exploring. First of all, I do not believe the devil can even hear our prayers to God. Why? There are no scriptures I have found that would support this type of belief.

Some that espouse that the devil can answer prayer has as their premise those who are operating in disobedience; meaning that if someone is petitioning the Lord, and is in sin, the Lord will not hear them so the devil intercepts the request and provides an answer to their prayer. The person then believes the answer came from God when in actuality, it’s a counterfeit. This is a weak supposition of  Satan’s ability at the least, and heretical interpretation of scripture at the most.

There are those that are given the devil too much credit and power.

It is this writer’s one hundred percent persuasion that the devil can not answer prayer, because he is not in the “blessing business”, but in the “killing business”!

Scripture clearly bears this out.

                                        

                                                What is the devil’s Modus Operandi

The devil is a liar – Then the serpent (i.e. the devil) said, “You shall not surely die. For God knows in the day that you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God knowing good and evil (Genesis 3:4).”

This was clearly a lie. God specifically commanded Adam not to eat from the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil, yet the devil said to Eve that she wouldn’t die (Genesis 2:17).

Jesus said regarding the devil when speaking to the religious leaders, “You are of your father the devil, and the lust (desires) of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of it” (John 8:44).

The devil is the tempter -  Jesus was tempted by the devil in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-10; Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1-13)

We read in I Chronicles 21:1 that “Satan stood up against Israel and moved David to number Israel.” Unfortunately, Satan prevailed against David in getting him to commit sin; David relished in the size of army instead in the power of God who provided the army. The result of David’s sin, seventy thousand Israelites were killed by an angel of the Lord (I Chronicles 21:14).

The devil is a devourer – “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour (I Peter 5:8). 

Part of the devil’s plan is to rip God’s people to shreds; to kill, steal and destroy them (John 10:10).

The devil is a sinner – We generally do not regard our enemy as a sinner, but he is the first and chief sinner of all creation. Remember, a sinner is anyone that breaks God’s law which the devil was the first creature to ever to do so.  This is proven in scripture:

11 Moreover the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, 12 Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. 13 Thou wast in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, the topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was in thee; in the day that thou wast created they were prepared. 14 Thou wast the anointed cherub that covereth: and I set thee, so that thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. 15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till unrighteousness was found in thee. 16 By the abundance of thy traffic they filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore have I cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God; and I have destroyed thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. 17 Thy heart was lifted up because of thy beauty; thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I have cast thee to the ground; I have laid thee before kings, that they may behold thee. 18 By the multitude of thine iniquities, in the unrighteousness of thy traffic, thou hast profaned thy sanctuaries; therefore have I brought forth a fire from the midst of thee; it hath devoured thee, and I have turned thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. 19 All they that know thee among the peoples shall be astonished at thee: thou art become a terror, and thou shalt nevermore have any being.

Ezek 28:11-19 (ASV)

Here we get a glorious description of the devil prior to his fall. Because of sin he was cast out of heaven down to the earth. The reason for this fall is sin. Some believe this event took place prior to the creation of man.

In I  John 3:8 we read this: “He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning (emphasis added). For this purpose the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil.

                                         

                                      

                                                                    Conclusion

As the aforementioned accounts prove, the devil does/can not answer prayer. Even if it is some type of material benefit that appears to be a blessing, see if it comes with repercussions. What do I mean by that? Scripture tells us the blessing of the Lord makes rich and adds no sorrow with it (Proverbs 10:22).  If one is acquiring things by ill gotten gain, you will experience sorrow eventually, and rightfully so, because you sinned to get something you had no right to.

Imagine the tragedy of those in the body of Christ who live sinful lives and still receive what they perceive as blessings  from the Lord. They will  have no desire to live holy because good would come by being evil. Those type of acquisitions do not come from the devil; it’s a result of their own lustful desires at which point God can allow Satan to exploit them like he did with Judas Iscariot. This was a case where the devil was successful; he caused Judas to commit suicide; in essence the devil killed Judas which I mentioned earlier is part of his evil nature (Matthew 27:5;Luke 22:3).

As John 10:10 says, the thief only comes but to kill, steal and destroy. For that’s all he can do. Jesus came to provide the abundant life of blessing.

If God does not answer the prayers of the disobedient Christian, certainly the devil is not granted the power to circumvent God’s prevention and provide a “blessing” against God’s will. The devil is only interested in stacking up bodies in his killing fields. God is the only one who stacks up benefits for His people in His fields of blessing.