Light on Satan's Tactics - Satan's Tactic With Jesus — Zac Poonen

We were looking the last two evenings at the schemes of Satan. We began by considering Paul's writing in 2 Corinthians 2 .11 where he says, In order that no advantage be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.

Even a man like Paul needed to be on his alert, needed to be alert and needed to be on his guard at all times to ensure that he was not tripped up by Satan. Satan is a very intelligent being. He is the most intelligent of all created beings.

There is no man that is wiser than him. You know that among human beings also there are different degrees of intelligence. IQ levels are different among human beings and if he were to go on that scale, Satan's IQ would be very very high.

More than double any man's. His intelligence is so high. And therefore he knows so many ways, he thinks of so many things that even intelligent people don't think of. Secondly, he knows the Bible better than any of us.

He knows exactly how to trip people up. And on top of that he's had six thousand years of experience in tripping up human beings. He knows everybody's weak point because he's studied human nature for so long.

I'm mentioning all this to say that you don't stand a chance against the devil. Absolutely not. And if you think you do, you're just fooling yourself. And the one who thinks he can fool the devil, he's the one who's going to be tripped up first of all and deceived thoroughly.

Our only hope is in God protecting us from deception. God has made it like that. Why has God made, allowed Satan to be so powerful? So you know what people who do black magic and witchcraft can do? Satan's got tremendous power, even in the physical realm.

He's got supernatural abilities. And why has God allowed Satan to be so strong, so intelligent, so powerful? Because when our enemy is strong, it makes us depend on God more. If you read in the Old Testament, you'll always find that God allowed the enemies of Israel to be very strong.

Israel used to be surrounded by armies that were much more powerful than them. You know why God allowed that? So that they would depend on Him and not depend on their own ability. It says, when the children of Israel went into the land of Canaan, they themselves are only 5 or 6 feet tall, but the inhabitants of Canaan were 9 feet tall.

Now, it's God who created them. God could have made the Israelites 9 feet tall and the Canaanites 5 feet tall. Why didn't He do it like that? Why did He make Goliath 9 feet tall and David 5 feet? Because if you're 9 feet and the other person's 5 feet, you don't need God's help much, right?

But if you're 5 feet and the other fellow's 9 feet, you'll be clinging to God for help. So, it's good to recognize that Satan is a very powerful enemy. He's likened to a roaring lion seeking to devour.

Now, if you knew that the lion had been let loose from the zoo or from some jungle nearby and was roaming the streets around here, I'm sure you'd be pretty careful. But I find a lot of Christians are not very careful when it comes to Satan, even though the Bible says he's like a roaring lion.

And that's why they get swallowed up. That's why you suddenly find great preachers suddenly falling into adultery. And that's why you find such a lot of divorce in the Christian church. Satan has swallowed up people left, right, and center wholesale, and preachers included, and it doesn't make a difference.

God's standards have all disappeared because Satan has done such a tremendous work of corrupting Christendom. He's made almost every preacher in the world today a beggar for money. How did he succeed in doing that?

How did he succeed in making all the great preachers beggars of money? He has to be, you've got to acknowledge, he's smart. He's capable. He's made people beg for money and think that they are representatives of Jesus Christ.

How did he succeed? Amazing. How does he succeed in fooling people that somebody's healed when he's not healed? Don't you think he's smart? How has he succeeded in all over Christendom in producing psychological gimmicks and calling them the gifts of the Holy Spirit?

How has he succeeded in when people have got the Bible, and the Jesus example and the apostles example, how has he succeeded in getting a whole lot of people to believe this? How has he succeeded in getting a whole lot of Christians lying on the floor and laughing away like people out of their senses and made them believe that this is being Christ-like?

Can you imagine Jesus lying on the floor and kicking his legs and laughing away like that? I can't. I cannot imagine how anybody can believe that that is the Holy Spirit, but the devil has succeeded in brainwashing millions of Christians to believe that wholesale.

All these things prove one thing to me, the devil is too smart for Christians. And I say that to alert you. How is it the devil has succeeded in not allowing people to spend their time studying God's word?

The average Christian I've found in most countries reads books about how to get healing and money more than they read the Bible. Such people deserve to go astray. They deserve to be deceived. Because they honor some book on prosperity more than the word of God.

They deserve to be deceived. And if they are deceived, they deserve it 100 for honoring a man above God. For honoring their, for pursuing after covetousness instead of holiness. And I'll tell you something, the devil does not like the truth being proclaimed.

He'll do everything in his power to hinder the proclamation of the truth. I know through the years how many ways the devil has tried to hinder me. Through past years. There's a place in the Bible in 1 Thessalonians and the end of chapter 2 where Paul says, I wanted to come to Thessalonica a number of times, but he says, 1 Thessalonians 2 .18, Satan hindered me.

Satan succeeded in hindering the mighty apostle Paul from going where he wanted to go to serve God? Do you and I think that we are better than Paul? That Satan can't hinder us? You're fooling yourself, my brother.

Satan is very, very strong. And if we are not alert, we'll be deceived by his schemes. And that's why it's important for us to know scripture, to see how he approached different people. These things are written for our instruction so that we don't fall in the same way.

A normal human being will learn from his own mistakes. A foolish man does not even learn from his own mistakes. So a normal human being learns from his own mistakes. A foolish human being does not even learn from his own mistakes.

But a wise man, he learns from the mistakes of other people. So he doesn't have to do them himself. Do you want to be wise? Or do you want to be a normal human being? Or a foolish human being? There are three options.

To be a foolish human being, a normal human being and a wise human being. If you are wise, you will learn from the mistakes of others and don't do them yourself. That's why scripture is written. We studied about how the devil tripped up Eve.

We studied how the devil attacked Job but did not succeed in knocking him down. Though temporarily, we have to say he did succeed in making Job grumble about a number of things. So Job's was an up and down experience.

Eve's was a total fall. Job's was up and down. And now we come to a third example where Satan was totally defeated. And that is in Luke chapter 4, the way Satan tempted Jesus. Perhaps we can look at the parallel passage in Matthew chapter 4.

That would be better. Matthew chapter 4, it's the same thing. The order of the temptations is a little different in Luke. But I believe the correct order is in Matthew 4, which came first, which came second and which came third.

Jesus’ Testing in the Wilderness

In Matthew chapter 4, we read that Jesus was led by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Read that sentence very carefully. You could answer these questions. First of all, who led Jesus?

Answer, the Holy Spirit. Where was he led? Into the wilderness. Third, this is the important question. Why did the Holy Spirit lead him there? What for? To be tempted by Satan. Does the Holy Spirit lead people to be tempted by Satan?

Will the Holy Spirit lead you to be tempted by Satan? God's word be true and our own opinion. Throw your own opinion in the garbage bin because that's all it's fit for. God says, my ways are not your ways.

My thoughts are not your thoughts. The Holy Spirit led Jesus to be tempted by Satan. And he's our forerunner. The Bible calls him a forerunner. Let us run the race looking unto Jesus. So, wherever Jesus went, I have to go too.

If he was led by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted, I have to be led by the spirit into the wilderness or wherever to be tempted. And if that was necessary for Jesus to complete his earthly ministry and his earthly education as a man, it is necessary for me and for you.

Without it, our spiritual education will be incomplete. It's a necessary part of our spiritual education. It's a preparation for ministry. It's not enough to be anointed with the Holy Spirit. A lot of people say, well, you want to be, you want to enter into ministry.

Follow Jesus' example, man. He was anointed with the Holy Spirit. And you cannot serve God without being anointed with the Holy Spirit. I agree 100%. But then I ask a second question to all these people.

I say, after you're anointed with the Holy Spirit, then what? Then what's next? Ministry? No. I'm sorry. No. Was that how it was with Jesus? You keep pointing Jesus as my example. After he was anointed with the Holy Spirit, he did not go into ministry.

He went into testing. And in his case, it was 40 days. In your case, it may be five years. That's up to God. But there has to be a period of testing before we can go into ministry. That's how it was with Jesus.

Why is that necessary? Now, you know, when they are manufacturing aluminium for use in aircraft, it goes through very severe testing. It's put into very high temperature furnaces and taken out from there and immediately put into ice-cold water.

And then taken out from there and put into blazing hot furnaces and taken out from there and put into ice-cold water. Why? Because that's what an airplane can face. And the metal must be strong enough to withstand much more than what an airplane can face.

It shouldn't become brittle and break. Otherwise, there'd be an accident in the air. So, and if the aluminium fails the test, they are rejected. They'll only accept metal that can go through these severe tests.

On the other hand, if you are using aluminium to make a child's toy, they don't subject it to any tests. It doesn't matter. Because it's for something which is worthless. Do you want a ministry that is worthless?

Or do you want a ministry that's very, very important in God's eyes? That will determine the measure of your testing. How much God will allow you to be tested by the devil. Jesus was tested intensely.

He was tempted for 40 days. Luke 4 says he was actually tempted for 40 days. And at the end of 40 days, we read of the last three temptations that he was tempted by. And I want you to notice something similar.

The way the devil came to Jesus, to the way he came to Eve. God had just told Adam and Eve, you must not eat of that tree. And that's the thing that Satan questioned. He always questions what God has spoken to you most recently.

God had told Adam and Eve. He had told Adam and Adam had no doubt communicated it to Eve. You must not eat of that tree of knowledge of good and evil. Immediately Satan questions that. Has God really said that?

Okay. What was the most recent thing that the father had told Jesus here? Do you remember? In the end of chapter 3? This is my beloved son. So that's the thing Satan questions. Chapter 4 verse 3. Are you really the son of God?

Remember this. That Satan is always trying to question what God has spoken to you most recently. Maybe what God spoke to you yesterday. Or this morning. Or day before yesterday. That's the thing that Satan will try to dislodge from your heart.

No, no, no. God didn't really say that. If you are the son of God. I mean there's a question about that. Are you really? And then he taunts him and tempts him. The first temptation here is a temptation to selfishness.

If you are the son of God. And you say a few days ago, 40 days ago you were anointed. And there was a voice from heaven saying you are the son of God. How do you know that was the father? It may be just your illusion.

The devil always tempts people who have accepted the Lord. It's a constant thing which the devil does. As soon as a person accepts Jesus as his savior and is born again. And he's become a new creation.

The very next thing that Satan comes and says. Oh, you think you are the son of God. I don't see any change in you. You look the same. You feel the same. Who said you are the son of God? He came to Jesus like that.

And I want to say to you that he will come to you. Don't listen to him. Listen to the word of God. As many as received him, to them he gave the authority to be the children of God. Accept it. Believe his word.

Oh, have you really got eternal life, the devil says. Bible says, these things have I written unto you that you may know that you have eternal life. So it's very important right at the outset. To resist Satan who tries to take away from me the thing that God has spoken to me recently.

If you are born again yesterday, the devil will come to you and say. Are you really saved? Do you really think all things have become new? Resist him in Jesus name. Has the Lord told you something yesterday about some sin in your life that needs to be set right?

Resist Satan when he tries to take away that assurance which the Holy Spirit is trying to give you. And then you see here his temptation. Now if you are indeed the son of God, command that these stones become bread.

The Physical Must Remain Subject to the Spiritual

And Jesus answered and said, it is written, man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Here was a temptation to place the physical above the spiritual.

It's a temptation that comes to all of us many, many times. Bread is more important than God's word. And God, Jesus said, no, God's word is more important than bread. The spiritual is more important than the physical.

When the devil said, listen, you've been fasting 40 days, you're going to die. You better eat something and you got power. Turn those stones into bread and eat man, otherwise you'll die. Jesus says, man shall not live by bread alone.

I don't say bread is not necessary, but Jesus said, that's not the only thing. You need a word from God. Every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. And I have not received a word from the mouth of God telling me to turn the stones into bread.

So I will not do it, even though I have the power to do it. You see how Jesus operated? Even though I have the power to do it, I still will not do it. Because I haven't received a word from God to tell me to turn the stones into bread.

Jesus said that man has to live by every word that proceeds out of God's mouth. In many situations in your life, you'll find that Satan comes to tempt you in the same way. These are his tactics to make you give more importance to the physical bread than the spiritual.

The word of God that feeds your soul. Make you, when you come to God in prayer, to pray for a bigger house rather than for overcoming your anger. One is physical, the other is spiritual. To pray to God to give you a better car rather than that you should stop lusting with your eyes.

Isn't that true? What do you pray for? And see if Satan has not succeeded in making you place the physical above the spiritual. He succeeded. Look at your prayers. Just examine your prayers, my brothers and sisters.

What do you pray for most of the time? How many spiritual things do you pray for? Can I give you a little bit of homework? Serious homework. The next time you read through the New Testament epistles. The prayers that Paul prayed.

He prayed for the Colossians in chapter 1 you read. He prayed for the Ephesians in chapter 3 and chapter 1. And at different places he tells people, this is what I'm praying for you. He tells the Ephesians, this is what I'm praying for you.

He tells the Colossians, this is what I'm praying for you. He tells different believers when he writes to them, this is what I'm praying for you. And see if ever he prays that they'll have better houses or they'll have better health.

They'll have better clothes or better education. There's nothing wrong with a better house or a better health or better education or any of these things. All I'm saying is Paul never prayed for these things.

For his converts. These are things that today's preachers, worldly preachers tell Christians to pray for. They are worldly themselves and they're trying to make every Christian around them worldly too.

It's the same old tactic of Satan. For years he has succeeded in doing that. Get believers to place the physical as more important than the spiritual. When Jesus taught his disciples to pray, he did teach them to pray for bread.

You know that. Give us this day our daily bread. But that was request number four. Don't forget that. That was not request number one. Do you know what was request number one? Hallowed be your name. Never mind if I don't get my daily bread.

First of all, hallowed be your name. Second, I still don't want daily bread. It's not second. Thy kingdom come. Lord, that's more important. Third, still nothing about daily bread. Thy will be done on earth in my life.

Exactly as it's done in heaven. And once I've got past those spiritual requests, give us this day our daily bread. There is a place for daily bread. I'm not saying we shouldn't ask for physical things.

Jesus taught us to pray for physical things. Give us this daily bread means give me the opportunity, give me the ability to survive in this world. And survival may require food. That word daily bread includes many things for survival.

It includes food, it includes clothing, it includes shelter, it includes educating our children. Otherwise they will not be able to earn their daily bread. It may include a car for you to move around.

Otherwise you won't be able to go to work to earn your daily bread. It could include all those things. All I'm saying is make it request number four. At least from now on in your life. That's how Jesus taught us to pray.

And if we were to examine our prayer life by the prayer Jesus taught, we will discover that most of us are just not praying the way Jesus taught us to pray. We have reversed the order. We put the head down and the legs on top.

Material things take such a prominent part in the prayers of most Christians. The devil has succeeded with Christians where he could not succeed with Jesus. He could not succeed getting Jesus to ask for his daily bread even after 40 days of fasting.

I mean if ever a man needed daily bread, surely it is after 40 days of fasting. Even then he did not succeed with Jesus. The devil came to Eve with the temptation of food. This fruit is good for food.

The devil came to Jesus with the temptation of food. And the devil will come to you with the temptation of food. Food is a very real temptation. The amount of money that Christians spend is amazing. Now there is nothing wrong in it provided it is not wasted.

But I have deeply appreciated people I have heard of who have sometimes fasted for one day or even one meal. And taken that money they would have spent on one meal and given it for the Lord's work in some poor country.

Have you ever thought of doing that? Imagine if everybody in a home fasted for one meal. Maybe very little. But if you did that once a week it would come to a tidy sum once a year. Or fasted a whole day.

You can progress from one meal fasting to one day fasting a week. It won't kill you. In fact you will be healthier. And you will probably be a little more spiritual. I believe that Christians need to break the bondage of food.

The slavery to food that is in their life. The reason they are so enslaved to sexual temptations is because they have not broken the slavery to food. You break the slavery there you will find the other thing a little easier.

Sodom’s Indulgence and Sexual Defeat

When you think of Sodom. Sodom. What do you immediately think of? What type of temptations? Sexual temptations. Right? In the time of Lot. Do you know why they were enslaved to sexual temptations? Have you ever discovered what the Bible says?

Let me show you a little known verse which tells us why Sodom was so sexually enslaved. Turn to the Old Testament in the book of Ezekiel in chapter 16. Ezekiel and chapter 16. Verse 49. This God says was the guilt of your sister Sodom.

She and her daughters had arrogance. Plenty of food. An easy way of life. And she did not help the poor and needy. Now in your life when you have arrogance. Far more food than you need to eat. Careless laziness in your lifestyle.

And you don't help the poor and the needy. My brother don't be surprised if you are sexually defeated. You will be exactly like the people in Sodom. It's no use praying, Oh God, deliver me, deliver me.

First get rid of these easy ones. The devil tempted Eve and Jesus through food and he tempts you through food. These are his tactics. These things are written for our instruction. A wise man learns from the mistakes of others.

Like Eve. Like Sodom. A foolish man goes and makes the same mistake himself. And still does not learn. A normal man at least learns from his own mistakes. A foolish man does not even learn from his own mistakes.

These things are written for our instruction. There could be many areas in your life where you place the physical above the spiritual. We need to reverse that order. In our prayer life. In our priorities.

In the way we spend our money. The way we spend our time. The physical is not more important than the spiritual. The devil is constantly bombarding us with advertisements in the newspapers, on television.

Everything saying, you cannot live without this. New gadget that came into the market six months ago. You cannot live without it. And you ask the question, how did man live without this for six thousand years?

Don't believe all those advertisements that tell you, you just cannot live without this. It's a lot of garbage. And you're convinced that you cannot live without it. Now, I'm not saying that you should not buy any time-saving gadget or...

I think it's very useful to have a lot of time-saving gadgets like washing machines and all. It saves a lot of time. But saves a lot of time for what? I hope it's not for watching that movie on television.

I hope it's for studying the Bible. I'm all for time-saving gadgets. I want to save as much time as possible. But not to sit back in careless ease. But so that I can have time for God. That's why I want every possible time-saving gadget in my house.

Sure, I don't mind spending money for a time-saving gadget. Because it will give me more time for God. I remember the old days, my first books that I wrote like, Sex, Love and Marriage and Finding God's Will.

I sat and typed and typed and typed and typed and typed. And then I had to correct it. I had to retype the whole thing. Many hundred pages of typewritten matter. Type, type, type, type, type, type, type.

I remember when I finally finished that final manuscript of Sex, Love and Marriage. My fingers were numb. Partly because I don't know typing. I used to type with two fingers the biblical method of seek and you shall find.

I still don't know typing. I type with two fingers. But I never learned it. But I thank God for the day when computers came. So I got one. It saved me time. But what for? So that I could have more time for God.

So that I could do something more for God than I could with typewriters. And I hope everything in your life is designed that way. So that you can have more time for God. Become more useful for God in your life.

Otherwise, how do you say you're a disciple of Jesus? If it's just to make your life more luxurious and comfortable, I say something is wrong. Don't place the physical above the spiritual. You'll go astray.

Using Spiritual Gifts for God Rather Than Personal Gain

The other thing I want to point out here is, it was also a temptation to use the power that God gives you for your personal gain. Has God anointed you? Use that power now, brother, to make bread for yourself.

I know how easy it is with the gift that I have of teaching and preaching God's word to make money. It's very easy. I just got to not touch certain subjects which offend people. I don't have to tell a lie.

I just avoid certain controversial subjects. And just say things which everybody would like to hear. Scriptural things, biblical things, evangelical things. And I know my audience will be wider and I'll have many more open doors and make a lot more money.

And I just avoid wasting too much time with all these poor village people who can't give you much gifts. And just select all the rich churches to go to and the wealthy cities of the world where I can go and preach and make a lot of money.

And doing what? Preaching God's word. I can get a satisfaction in saying I'm preaching God's word. But I'm using a power God gave me for my own personal gain. That's what the Lord said no to Satan. Satan said you've got power man.

You've been anointed. Now use that power to make something for yourself. Whether it's bread or money or whatever it is. Satan said no. The vast majority of today's preachers have said yes. They've said yes.

Sure. Why can't I make money? The laborer is worthy of his hire. And they've got all types of verses to support themselves. And I can quote those verses too. You shall not muzzle the ox that treads out the corn.

And the laborer is worthy of his hire. And the one who teaches is worthy of being paid. And the elder is worthy of double honor. He should be paid double of everybody else. Yes, yes, yes, yes. There are so many verses.

But Paul said but I will not use any of these verses for myself. And that's what I say too. It's all a question of whether you value the anointing more or money more or bread more. Jesus valued the anointing.

A lot of today's preachers don't. They are only interested in honor and money. That's all. That's all. And they don't have any contact with God. Most of their messages are borrowed from other preachers to get honor for themselves.

It's all commercial. These are not servants of God. They are merchants. Businessmen. Trying to make a profit from somebody else's revelation. That's how it is. 90 of today's preachers preach what somebody else has preached.

Which they have stolen. They are thieves. Standing up in the pulpit. Thieves. Stealing somebody else's message and preaching it as their own. What would you think of a man who went and stole somebody else's clothes or somebody else's money or somebody else's car?

What's the difference between a car thief and a preacher who steals somebody else's sermon? Absolutely no difference. There are thieves in today's pulpits. And why? Because they are too lazy to fast and pray.

Be filled with the Holy Spirit and get revelation from God themselves. And what do you think a bunch of thieves can produce? You think they can build the church of Jesus Christ? No. To use gift that God has given for personal gain is evil.

Don't ever use any influence you have as a Christian to get personal gain for yourself. In any area. Maybe you have influence in church as an elder. Don't ever use that for personal gain. No. You'll destroy yourself.

These are the tactics of Satan he uses. Let's go to the second temptation. The devil took him to the holy city. The first temptation was in the wilderness. The second temptation was on top of the temple.

And the third temptation was on a mountain. The devil can tempt you in a dry place like the wilderness. In a religious place like the temple. Or in a business center. It says here, he took him to the holy city and made him stand on top of the pinnacle of the temple.

And said to him again, Oh, are you really the son of God? Okay. You know, when he heard Jesus quoting a scripture, It is written. That's how Jesus overcame Satan. He never got into a discussion with Satan like Eve did.

He just said, it's written. Man shall not live by bread alone. That's a quotation from Deuteronomy chapter 8. He said, it's written like that and that's enough for me. I don't need any further guidance.

Man shall live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. I want to mention something about that. The same Jesus, who would never use his power to make bread for himself. He did use that power to make bread for 5 ,000 people from 5 loaves.

That's where we should use our power. For other people. And not for yourself. He had the power to feed 5 ,000. And he used it. But he would not use it for himself. That is the mark of a man of God. And when he saw, when Satan saw that Jesus was quoting God's word.

Then the devil said, okay. Let me quote God's word to him. Let me trip him up with God's word. When he sees you are the religious type. Always going by verses of scripture. Then he will use scripture to deceive you.

And you know all the cults that have come up in Christendom. They have all got a verse of scripture. Usually half a verse. With which they have built their kingdoms. And teach their doctrines. What does it say here?

Satan’s Misuse of Scripture and the Danger of Presumption

He took him to the pinnacle of the temple. And said, it says in scripture. It is written. He will give his angels charge concerning you on their hands. They will bear you up. Verse 6. Lest you strike your foot against a stone.

What shall you do when you hear a scripture. Quoted by the devil. Don't think that every voice you hear quoting a scripture. Is from God. Very often we find verses. To suit our own needs. Man is an expert.

Particularly religious people. Are experts at finding scriptures. Satisfy their own lusts. Finding some scripture. By which they do. They say, well God told me to do that. One of the most frequently heard expressions.

I have heard among Christians. The Lord said to me. They think they are impressing me. They are not. I have heard enough of that. The Lord said to me. I saw this vision. I saw an angel. I am not fooled.

I have heard enough stories like this in my lifetime. The Lord said to me. Does the Lord speak? He does. But when I look at the lives of these people. All this speaking by the Lord doesn't seem to have made them spiritual.

Then I question whether the Lord has spoken to them at all. It's just their imagination. If God was really speaking. I know what happened in Genesis chapter 1. When the Lord spoke. You know what happened when the Lord spoke and said let there be light?

What happened? There was light. And when the Lord said let the trees come up from the earth. You know what happened? The trees came up. But these people who keep on saying the Lord said this and the Lord said that.

The Lord said this. Nothing. I don't see anything in their life of spirituality. They are still lovers of money. They live for themselves. And they say the Lord said this and the Lord said that. I am not fooled by all that.

And don't you be fooled by all that either. A lot of people go into the scriptures to find verses. Just like you know. Learn this lesson from here. The devil quotes scripture to lead you astray. When you are set in wanting to do something the way you want to do it.

You say oh God please guide me. And you read and you read and you read. And you hit upon a verse. And you got what you wanted. You got God's sanction to do what you like. Lots of people who are doing something completely contrary to the word of God.

And they quote a scripture. Let me give you an example. Supposing you are very much in love with a girl whose name is Grace. And you want to find out God's will whether you should marry her or not. And you are hoping God will say yes of course.