Part 2: Satan’s Playbook – 9 Tactics Satan Commonly Uses

by Pastor Kerry Krissel
SYNOPSIS

INTRO: In this second article of a three-part series, we look at a few ways Satan works against those
who follow Jesus. He is more clever, more experienced at the art of war, and smarter than any of us. He
will win if we stand up to him alone, without God and without knowledge of his schemes. His deceitful
trickery is as elusive as it is effective. Fortunately, he has an (ancient) playbook and we can pick up on
some of his more common strategies. How are you at noticing (and countering) his devious methods?
KEY VERSES: Ephesians 6:10-18; 2 Corinthians 2:11; 1 Peter 5:8; John 8:44; John 10:10.
PROGRESSION:
Satan makes good use of 2) Gaslighting
Satan makes good use of 3) Truth
Satan makes good use of 4) Open Windows and Closed Doors
Satan makes good use of 5) Personal Pronouns

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Condensed Introduction From Part 1:

Ephesians 6:10-18 tells us to put on all the armor God gave us when the enemy brings the fight to our
doorstep. Every piece is needed both for defense and offense, to protect our ground and to take new
ground for God’s kingdom. But there is a mental piece to this warfare as well. Satan is a crafty bugger.
He is smart, experienced, determined, deceitful, wicked, ruthless, heartless, and unfair. Did I mention
deceptive?
Satanic Methodologies
This armor is designed to help us stand rock solid and immovable against Satan’s “schemes.” “Put on all
of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all STRATEGIES of the devil” (v. 11). The Greek
for “strategies” is the word we get methodologies (μεθόδεια = methodeia) from. It highlights the way
Satan couples his clever wisdom, several millennia of experience, and his resulting prowess, with a
crafty cleverness that is mulled over and brewed (devised) to trick us into doing his bidding. These are
specific and well-planned, conscious procedures he uses that he has perfected over the years and that
have a high return rate. It is some of his “dark magic” that is not magic at all! Staying alert to these
methods exposes his insidious way.

Part 2: Satan’s Playbook – 9 Tactics Satan Commonly Uses

1. Satan makes good use of gaslighting. I can assure you that gaslighting was Satan’s idea. It is a
specific application of deception, which, as you know, is his specialty. When he gaslights he works
through covert strategies to convince us that what we perceive, believe, think, or feel is inaccurate or
just invalid. If we insist on acknowledging our emotions, he switches tactics and tries to get us to
agree that, even though we feel a certain way, we shouldn’t. You are not going crazy, but he has
probably suggested that you are. If he can get us to question what we thought was true, he is right
there to propose alternative ideas. Go back and read his temptation of Eve. You will see the cognitive
distortions, subtle but real, that Satan used to trick Eve into thinking errantly. Satan is a master at
temptation. When successful, he blames us or another and poses as our friend and helper on the
road to a better life. It’s a trap! You may even think you are hearing from Satan but he will deftly find a
way to cancel your reality and substitute one of his own… and then tell you there is something wrong
with you!

2. Satan makes good use of (the) truth. The deceit is obvious and expected. But the deception is
seldom without a hint of truth. A half-truth is a whole lie. He uses partial truths to give his lies and
suggestions greater weight… and confusion. He will use the Bible against us, usually by wrenching it
out of context and warping God’s intended meaning. The devil usually has a good idea of what we
want from us so he selects the truths carefully so it works well with his lies and wicked ideas. He
deals in confusion and generalities. He overwhelms and avoids the kindness of clarity. His mixture of
truth and lies is designed hide truth and wisdom. He has no intention in being helpful… unless he has
a ulterior motivation. He want to make sure we cannot distinguish truth from error. And when you talk
about conflating a lot or a little truth with a lot of or a little deceit, confusion is his aim. Uncertainty is
his currency. Doubt is his aim. The vagueness works to cover his real intentions, which he seldom
offers for us to consider.
3. Satan makes good use of open windows and closed doors. This is a specific application of
misdirection and deceit. He tried to guess what God is going to ask of us and then tempt us to get
ahead of God or to strike out on our own timing, our own strategy, and in our own strength. Immature
Christ-followers believe that every open door (opportunity) is God’s leading and every closed door is
his way of saying no. They unwisely hold to the idea that whenever God closes a door, he opens a
window. That is a cliché that was birthed beside the fires of Mordor deep within Mount Doom! Satan
will cleverly close a “door” just so he can “open” a window to trick us into thinking God has saved us.
Do you think Satan will create an opportunity to serve God, maybe even in a more impactful way?
You can bet your sweet bippy he will! He will do whatever it takes to get us out of sync with God.
Later he will turn on us, tell us we were not following God (which is the truth!), and accuse us of
rebellion. He claim that we have forever messed up God’s will for our lives (a big, fat hairy lie!). He
knows his theology and he knows that no one is powerful enough to stump God or leave him without
a single idea how to use us. But he will not tell you that!
4. Satan makes good use of personal pronouns. We do not have the space to debate how Satan
does what he does. How he exerts his influence, how he manipulates, controls and uses us, how he
gets “ground,” or how he gets in our heads. It is generally agreed that, one way or another, he puts
thoughts into our heads. It would be helpful, but Satan does not bother to announce his presence. He
prefers to pass his ideas off as our own. In fact, it is strategic that he does. When he wants to tell us
a lie, he does not come at us with a, “Hey, pist, over here, it’s Satan, you friendly neighborhood
representative of all that is wicked, false, and godless…” No, he is way more astute than that. Most
Christians would not give him the time of day once they know it is him.
Thinking back to how everything he says is meant to mislead, here is how he approaches us, “I think
I want to do this or that.” He does not announce himself, he gets us to think that his thought is ours
by using first-person personal pronouns. Usually singular personal pronouns – I, me, my, mine,
myself. Sometimes plural – we, us, our, ours, ourselves. He disguises his thoughts as if they are our
own, or those of my group or tribe. However he gets into our heads, he wants us to go right on as if
nothing happened, like the father of lies did not just float a deception our way that we immediately
owned. One way to know it is him is when the (usually evil or wrong) thought just seems to drop into
our minds out of nowhere. It is seldom out of nowhere! When he gets us to own his ideas, his lies, his
godlessness, he gets us into an alliance with him. We would not make that choice if we knew it was
him, so he tricks un into believing it is not him.
Next Article:
Part 3: Satan’s Playbook
Satan Makes Good Use Of:
6) Fatigue
7) Dormancy
8) Surrender
9) Murder (Violence)