When You Need to Tell the Enemy, “Take a Hike!”
Friends! Do you find you hit roadblocks, or spin in the middle of the floor, or battle distractions and storms more than once a day? As of this writing, my husband, John, and I are battling a storm that has truly messed with our minds, spiraling us downward into a big-n-nasty funk.
It’s hard to come out of a big-n-nasty funk, isn’t it? Especially when we know, that we know, that we know, oh, and I’m going to say this one more time, THAT. WE. KNOW. God is still on the throne and He’s got our backs.
One of my favorite new-to-me Scriptures is this:
You may also like the plaque we have hanging in our kitchen:
So today, please allow me to encourage you with some Biblical truths from not one, but two books:
The first is: Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table: It’s Time to Win the Battle of Your Mind by Louie Giglio
And the second is: Praying the Bible by Donald S. Whitney
Louie’s book has a plethora of endorsements, so I’ll just share a few with you as I believe they’ll further encourage you to check out his book:
John Mark Comer says Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table is a “clarion call to attune our mind stream to life in the kingdom.”
KB, artist, says, “The greatest war of our lives centers around the battle of the mind. I am grateful for work like this that floods our spiritual artillery with gospel ammunition.”
Tim Tebow says, “I’m confident that Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table will not only clarify your faith but strengthen it. Jesus has already won the greatest victory—now it’s our turn to fight to think rightly and fix our eyes on our Good Shepherd.”
Dr. Crawford W. Loritts, Jr. says, “…This wonderful book shows us how to access and exercise the resources we have in Christ so that we can restore peace and rest to our minds.”
Louie gives us the answer early on to the question, “How do you win the battle of your mind?”
He shows us a nine-word answer: “DON’T GIVE THE ENEMY A SEAT AT YOUR TABLE.”
Louie teaches us to take back our tables—to “concentrate on the Good Shepherd, the One who owns the table.”
This idea comes from Psalm 23. Louie shares, “My invitation was to put my trust in the One who prompted me to lie down in green pastures, the One who led me beside quiet waters and restored my soul. The Good Shepherd was guiding me along the right paths for His names’s sake…The Good Shepherd would anoint my life with His favor and my cup would overflow. My promise—goodness mercy, and love—would escort me every single day of my life.”
He also reminds us of 1 Peter 5:8 that says,
We learn that prowling around us is a major tactic of the devil’s—Louie adds, “So maybe I couldn’t stop the devil from prowling around my table, but in Jesus’ name I definitely did have the choice whether I allowed the Enemy to sit down.”
“…Don’t give the enemy a seat at your table was quickly becoming more than a helpful quote. These nine words were becoming a WEAPON that was setting me free.”
So dear readers, this indeed is GOOD NEWS for us—Louie takes us by the hand and walks us through exactly HOW to sit at the table the Lord’s prepared for us—a table for two with no room for the devil, with only room for us to join our Shepherd and receive His peace, “finding encouragement, hope, and strength in the midst of our valleys.” This will cause us to glorify Him while He “leads us to win the fight for our minds.”
We’re given specific ways to do just that, to WIN the fight for our minds—you’ll find yourself dog-earring pages and underlining or highlighting most of every page. This book is truly a daily handbook.
One of the ways to win the fight for our minds ties in perfectly with our next book we’re going to discuss briefly, Praying the Bible. Louie, in Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table, suggests we memorize Scripture as well as pray different Scriptures every day. (Specifics are in Chapters 7 and 10.)
Don Whitney’s book Praying the Bible, shows us HOW to pray thru’ Scriptures, and more specifically, how to pray thru’ the Psalms, plus we learn of a special (and FREE) app a friend of his put together for us which gives us 5 Psalms a Day.
Available through the Apple App Store and through Google Play.
So remember, in the first part of this post I showed you from Deuteronomy 31: 8, about how God will “personally go ahead of us?” Thanks to Don’s book, and the 5 Psalms app, God has gone ahead of us to prepare us for two big storms.
Two years ago, John had a serious melanoma on his arm that landed us in Dr. Kelly McMaster’s office. Kelly heads up the Melanoma Department at U of L’s James Brown Cancer Center. This was during Covid, so John’s subsequent surgery required me to drop him off. (I’m still not over it.)
We received exceptional care, and after one lymph node removal, then the big surgery on John’s arm, we were thankfully dismissed. During the time of the surgery, I kept praying thru’ the Psalms.
Only one month prior to the first melanoma news, I received Don’s book, Praying the Bible from a friend. Thank you, Lord. (For additional details on Praying the Bible, see these former posts: Need a New Way to Pray? and Bonus Resources from last week’s post, PLUS Discover Illuminated Scripture Journals!)
And, on Thursday September 22nd, while in the 5 Psalms app, I was reading Psalm 112 which teaches us to have “our hearts to be steady and firm, trusting in the Lord, and for us not to be afraid of bad news.”
That day I met my friend, Jane, for coffee, and was telling her about that phrase, remembering John had just had a biopsy done of an area on his chest on Tuesday. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, but sure enough that Thursday night, our dermatologist called and said, “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the biopsy came back and it’s another type of melanoma.”
Boom. That news was akin to a ton of bricks falling on us. We sure didn’t want to hear that! But thanks again to the 5 Psalms app, I was reminded we were not to fear bad news….The Lord had once again proven He is with us and goes before us.
And, good news is the type of melanoma it is (sounds like a very long phrase of Chinese—I won’t attempt to write it out!), can be removed by our dermatology office’s MOHS surgeons. Our dear friend, Melissa (who happens to be Dr. Owen’s P.A.), allayed our fears somewhat sharing that this place on John’s chest is a slow-growing, non-aggressive type of melanoma, so we are forever grateful for our doc’s early detection (Thank you Dr. Owen!) which is a reminder for all of us to get frequent skin/mole checks.
We’d covet your prayers on October 6th, for Dr. McCall’s insight and surgical skills, and for the cancer to be easily removed during the MOHS surgery on my beloved. After 38 years of being married, we’re somewhat attached at the hip and would love to stay that way, enjoying our precious family of 14 plus one on the way!
Now I’d like to close with a beautiful prayer our friend Nancy Sleeth prayed over us when I asked her for prayer.
Please pray this with us:
Thanks again, Nancy, for your gift of the most perfect, pertinent and personal prayers.
May we always be alert to how our Mighty God personally goes ahead of us.
‘Til next time!
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the page above are “affiliate links.”