Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, so that we would not be outwitted by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his designs.
– 2 Corinthians 2:10–11
It’s verse 11 that I really want to camp out on and lead us to pray accordingly. Listen to that phrasing.
2 Corinthians 2:10–11 Warns Us About the Devil’s Schemes
So Paul writes, We would not be outwitted by Satan. So that’s a possibility. According to this language, Satan could outwit us. So just think about today in your life Satan wants to outwit you. Satan wants to lead you to believe things that are not true. Convince you to do things that are not good for you, for others, for the glory of God. Satan wants to outwit you today and tomorrow and every day in every circumstance we’re in.
So Paul writes, “We are not ignorant of his designs.” It’s good to be knowledgeable, and aware of the designs of Satan to outwit us. This is why the Bible says it’s so many places. “Be alert, be on guard, be on watch, because there is an adversary.” There are spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms to use language from Ephesians 6, “Whose aim today is to outwit you, whose aim today is to deceive you, to distract you, to divide your heart, and ultimately to destroy you.” There is an adversary.
2 Corinthians 2:10–11 Encourages Us to Be Aware of the Spiritual Forces Around Us
There are spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms who want to destroy your life, who want to destroy your relationships, who want to destroy the church of Jesus Christ, who want to destroy your marriage, destroy your kids, your parents, the people around you. This is a reality and it is good to have our eyes open to this reality, to not be ignorant to this, so that we are constantly looking to God and His Holy Spirit to lead us to believe what is true, to do what is right, and to avoid Satan’s designs.
So God, we pray, help us today to be aware, to be knowledgeable, not to be ignorant of His designs, according to your Word in two Corinthians 2:11, “And God in this, help us not to be outwitted by Satan.” God, we pray that every thought we have, we would filter through your Word through that which is good and right holy pleasing to you and good for us according to your Word. God, we pray that you would guard our desires. You’d guard our words.
This Verse Encourages Us to Lead Watchful Spiritual Lives
God, that everything we say would be glorifying to you, that would not give an open door to Satan’s designs through what we say, how we communicate and the things we do all day long. God, we pray that you would guard us from being deceived. That you would guard us from being divided in our hearts towards you, God. We pray that you would guard us from division in the body of Christ. We pray that you would guard us from every attempt of the adversary to pull us away from you.
And God, we pray this over others around us. God, please guard the people in our lives from the outwitting designs of Satan. God, we pray this over our family members. We pray this over our friends, our brothers and sisters in Christ. We pray this over people who don’t know you, who Satan is working to keep from knowing you. God, we pray that you would help us to share the gospel with them.
And we pray that you would use our lives to overcome the outwitting designs of Satan. Use the truth of the gospel in our lips and our lives to lead to their salvation and their good now and for eternity. God, we pray this for unreached people around the world. When we think about 7,000 people groups around the world who are unreached by the gospel, we know that Satan’s design is to keep them unreached.
Prayer for the Kalal People
Satan’s design is to keep the gospel from them, and it’s worked for many of them for centuries. God, we pray. We pray for the Kalal people of India and Bangladesh today. 2.6 million of them, so few followers of Jesus among them. So many among those 2.6 million who’ve never even heard the good news of Jesus. God, we pray for the spread of the gospel among the Kalal people of India and Bangladesh, and we pray that they would be reached with the gospel and that Satan’s designs for their eternal destruction would be overcome by the designs of your people to make disciples among the Kalal.
And God, we pray this for billions of unreached people in the world. God help us not to be ignorant of Satan’s designs and to overcome them with obedience to you and the power of your spirit to help us to grow as disciples and make disciples of the nations and end this way to not be outwitted by Satan nor be ignorant of his designs. We pray all this according to your word in 2 Corinthians 2:11. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
