Can Satan Read Our Minds & Thoughts?
There is no evidence in the scriptures that suggests that satan can read our minds or our thoughts.
Whilst the devil is indeed a powerful angel, this does not mean that satan has the same attributes as God.
Therefore unlike God, satan is not omniscient. The devil is not all-knowing and neither is he infinitely wise. Satan is a created being and therefore he has limitations.
So the devil has limited knowledge; he has limited wisdom and he has limited understanding.
However even though satan cannot read our minds, the devil can still influence our thinking and our decisions. For example satan can influence our minds and thoughts through suggestions or temptations. Therefore the devil is able to plant seeds of doubt, fear, jealousy, lust and all sorts of suggestions and temptations in our minds in order to influence our thoughts and decisions.
The reason why Adam & Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden is because they were tempted and they obeyed satan’s suggestions (Genesis 3:1-24).
There is no human being who lives on the earth who cannot be tested or tempted by satan.
Even Jesus Christ was tempted by satan as the devil attempted to plant evil suggestions, ideas and temptations in the mind of Christ in order to persuade Christ into disobeying God.
However, Christ was able to defeat every tempting suggestion from satan by using the Scriptures (Matthew 4:1-11).
2 Corinthians 10:4-5 says: For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,
Our minds are one of the main battlegrounds where spiritual warfare takes place. We should avoid allowing the devil and his army of fallen angels from influencing our thinking and decisions.
Instead we should “take every thought captive to obey Christ” or the word of God.
The devil has been around long enough to study the weaknesses of mankind. The devil cannot read our minds but he can read our countenance; he can study our lifestyle and our behavior so that he can make an educated prediction pertaining to which temptation or problem is most likely to make us fall or disobey God.
Job 1:6-12 is evidence that satan goes “to and fro on the earth” and that he is able to study and observe mankind in order to discover our weaknesses so that he may inflict harm. The devil had clearly been observing the life of Job and appeared to have studied many aspects of Job’s life.
Therefore satan can make educated predictions or guesses based on his studies and observations of an individual or mankind as a whole. However he cannot read our minds or read the precise thoughts or intents of our hearts because satan is a creation with limited abilities.
Only God Can Read Our Minds & Thoughts
God alone is omniscient. God alone is infinitely wise and all-knowing. God does not make predictions or educated guesses. Nothing surprises God because He knows everything – past, present and future.
God does not need to study or observe mankind in order for Him to know us. Instead, God already knew us before we were formed in our mother’s womb (Jeremiah 1:5).
Matthew 9:4 reflects that Jesus knows our thoughts and the intents of our heart.
Psalms 139:4 says that God already knows what we will say even before we speak the words.
Therefore God alone can accurately and precisely read our minds and thoughts.
