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Silent Prayer + Does Satan Know Our Thoughts?
HC: Good evening. Welcome to Open Forum.
CALLER: Harold Camping, I'd like to ask a couple of questions. First of all, is there anything in the scriptures about silent prayer? And the second question is, can Satan read our minds?
HC: The first question is, is there anything in the scriptures about silent prayer? First of all, the Bible does talk about . . .
CALLER: I was thinking about Joshua 1:8: "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, and thou shalt meditate therein day and night." That's the gist of the verse.
HC: Joshua 1:8: "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein. For then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success."
We have the same idea in Psalm 119, where God indicates, for example, in verse 97, "O, how love I Thy law! It is my meditation all the day." And the Bible also gives other verses in Psalm 119 which . . .
CALLER: Also relate to meditation. Now I wanted to know if all these verses that talk about meditation indicate that there is such a thing as silent prayer.
HC: The Bible indicates, for example, "Pray without ceasing." Now if God means what He says, that we are to pray without ceasing, it means we have to be able to pray in every kind of a situation. Certainly, therefore, God anticipates that we will be praying within our hearts. There's a passage someplace that indicates that God knows what we will ask before we even ask it. God knows our secret thoughts.
CALLER: Then do all of these verses collectively indicate that a Christian can pray to God in the mind?
HC: Yes. I really believe that with all my heart, that our thoughts are just as, for example, here's an excellent proof text. In Psalm 19:14: "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer." This clearly indicates that God knows exactly what we are meditating on within our heart. And in our meditation, if we're praying to Him, God knows this just as readily as if we were praying out loud.
Now the second question is, does Satan know our thoughts? The Bible indicates that when we are born again, we have been transferred from the dominion of darkness into the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is Colossians 1, I think verse 13. Now that means that no longer are we under the rule or control of Satan. He no longer has anything on us. We are a citizen of Christ's Kingdom. Christ is our Lord. He is our King. Satan bears no relationship to us. Therefore I am quite convinced that Satan has no idea what's going on in my heart or in my mind.
CALLER: I see. Then you don't think Satan can read our minds.
HC: I don't think he can for a moment.
CALLER: I see. Thank you, Brother Camping.
HC: Now on the other hand, this brings to mind this matter of ESP. You know, there are these people who have the ability to read your thoughts. Now if I would present myself to such a person as a born again individual, and said, "Can you read my thoughts?" at that point I think that (and I believe that all of this kind of action, such as ESP and occult activity is Satanic), I think that's the reason that it will work. There is this spirit world. And I think that when I present myself this way, "Read my thoughts", I am effectively placing myself in his hand to some degree. And perhaps he can read my thoughts.
CALLER: By us being yielded, you mean?
HC: Yes, by yielding to him I'm really opening myself to him, to Satan, to use me. Actually, the Bible teaches that we are to turn away from Satan, that we are to trust only in the Lord Jesus Christ. We should not have any part in any kind of occult activity of this nature.
CALLER: Right. I believe that, too. Thank you, Brother Camping. I want to say in closing how much my wife and I enjoy your program and your faithfulness to the Word and to the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior.
HC: Thank you so much for calling. Good night.