That You May Conquer Satan

When the Lord spoke to Cain he also told him of Satan’s desire to overcome Cain: “If thou doest well, thou shalt be accepted. And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door, and Satan desireth to have thee; and except thou shalt hearken unto my commandments, I will deliver thee up, and it shall be unto thee according to his desire” (Moses 5:23). Unfortunately the warning was not heeded, and in this case the adversary did win over Cain and ensnared him. On the night of the Last Supper, the Savior gave Peter a similar warning: “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren” (Luke 22:31-32). Simon was indeed converted and was not sifted as wheat by the adversary. After His resurrection, when He was among the Nephites, Christ said something similar to them suggesting that Simon and Cain were not unique in being targeted by the adversary: “Behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, ye must watch and pray always lest ye enter into temptation; for Satan desireth to have you, that he may sift you as wheat” (3 Nephi 18:18). Earlier in the Book of Mormon Alma had warned his son Helaman in these words: “I tell you by the spirit of prophecy, that if ye transgress the commandments of God, behold, these things which are sacred shall be taken away from you by the power of God, and ye shall be delivered up unto Satan, that he may sift you as chaff before the wind” (Alma 37:15). This suggests that any of us who knowingly transgress the commandments of God are making ourselves vulnerable to be overcome by the devil.

               The Doctrine and Covenants also contains several warnings of Satan’s desires to destroy the children of men. Joseph Smith was told that Satan and his servants “have sought to destroy you.” He also learned of the how the devil had inspired the loss of the manuscript pages and of those involved the Lord said, “Satan stirreth them up, that he may lead their souls to destruction” (Doctrine and Covenants 10:6,22). To a group of Elders the Lord gave this warning: “And also Satan hath sought to deceive you, that he might overthrow you” (Doctrine and Covenants 50:3). Lyman Wight was told this in a revelation around the same time: “And let my servant Lyman Wight beware, for Satan desireth to sift him as chaff” (Doctrine and Covenants 52:12). And later the same year the Savior said this about Edward Partridge: “And also my servant Edward Partridge, behold, he hath sinned, and Satan seeketh to destroy his soul; but when these things are made known unto them, and they repent of the evil, they shall be forgiven” (Doctrine and Covenants 64:17). All these passages should serve as warnings that the adversary desires the same thing for each of us: to have us, to sift us as wheat and as chaff, to deceive us, to overthrow us, and to destroy our souls.

So how do we protect ourselves? This declaration is perhaps the most succinct formula for overcoming the adversary: “Pray always, that you may come off conqueror; yea, that you may conquer Satan, and that you may escape the hands of the servants of Satan that do uphold his work” (Doctrine and Covenants 10:5). This certainly refers to the kind of prayer in which we seek protection and help from the Lord to overcome our temptations and resist evil. But undoubtedly it also refers to prayer in which we seek forgiveness from the Lord after we have faltered. Surely as we repent and apply the atonement of Jesus Christ to cleanse ourselves, the power of the adversary over us diminishes. This was the counsel to the Prophet Joseph when he had been attacked by the “fiery darts of the adversary”—to be protected again by the Lord he needed to repent: “But remember, God is merciful; therefore, repent of that which thou hast done which is contrary to the commandment which I gave you, and thou art still chosen, and art again called to the work” (Doctrine and Covenants 3:8,10). We must each seek diligently to pray to the Lord for forgiveness and for strength so that we two can overcome the fiery darts of the adversary through our faith in Jesus Christ.