Dramatizing mind control is a popular, scary way to entertain us. Entertainment media portray weak-willed humans coming under the spell of aliens, Jedi knights, or sorcerers employing the “evil eye” to bind us to their will. For some of us, it’s all good fun because the thought of mind control taps a subconscious fear we have of coming under someone else’s power.
The fun diminishes, however, when we consider the possibility that Satan has access to our minds, an evil mastermind with the ability to manipulate us. Is Satan able to read my thoughts? Can he place thoughts into my mind? The Bible is not entirely clear with an answer.
One of the challenges comes in understanding the relationship between the two spheres of existence—the physical world and the spiritual domain. How much traffic travels from one sphere to the other?
On the one hand, we humans do not normally have access to the spirit-realm until we die. Some people claim access to the spirit domain in this life through occult practices or through near-death experiences. These are special claims that are out of the ordinary for most people.
We do know, however, that spirits—angels, demons, and God himself—have free access to our world. It appears they can interact in our physical domain any time they choose. The Bible never shows a barrier or roadblock that spirit-beings must overcome to act within the physical universe. They can even invade our bodies, as Satan did with Judas during the Last Supper: “As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him” (John 13:27).
The Bible also confirms that Satan and demons have access to our minds and thoughts. In the same scene at the Last Supper, Satan influenced Judas’s thoughts: “The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus” (John 13:2).
Satan did not physically appear that night, standing behind Judas, whispering in his ear. The verse literally says that the devil had already “put it into the heart” (ESV) of Judas the thought to betray Jesus.
A similar incident happened a thousand years before Judas lived. Satan persuaded King David to do something he should not have done. “Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel” (1 Chronicles 21:1).
The verse does not spell out exactly how Satan incited David to number Israel. But a likely explanation is that Satan placed the thought in David’s mind.
What the Bible teaches is confirmed for many of us through our experience. A number of people testify to thoughts coming into their heads out of nowhere, horrible thoughts to harm themselves or others. For example, while walking across a high bridge, someone senses the prompting to “Jump!” Where did that come from? The person is relatively happy and stable emotionally, so it does not seem possible that the suggestion to commit suicide came from their own mind or heart. Perhaps Satan and demons are responsible for placing such outrageous ideas into our heads.
Can Satan also read our minds? No clear biblical evidence supports the idea. Only God knows everything, not Satan or any other creature. The devil is very clever, though, and he has been a student of human nature for thousands of years. Just compare: Even when we have a close friend or family member, we can often “read their minds” accurately by observing their body language and facial expressions. We can predict accurately what they are going to do because we know them. Satan can do the same, too, because he knows us. He sees us react to situations in ways that make it pretty easy to discern what we are thinking. He knows us very well, including our weaknesses. And he can exploit those weaknesses.
Behind all of this is a bigger reality—our many vulnerabilities as humans. As much as we like to proclaim our strengths as a human race, multiple forces can influence, manipulate, or deceive us, including Satan. So many sins are conceived in our thought life. We are creatures susceptible to many forces.
A word of caution: If you are hearing voices in your head, please speak to someone about it. The voices may come from demons, or they may signal other emotional issues you need to address. Either way, seek someone’s help. Even if the voices seem harmless or offer companionship, this is not something to dismiss.
We can resist Satan by watching over our minds and hearts carefully. Consider two suggestions: First, entrust your mind to the Lord Jesus Christ. Become a follower of Jesus and ask Him to guard your heart against such awful thoughts and feelings. Remember, He is the Lord of all, commanding the demons as they tremble before Him.
Second, as Christ-followers, we can also make good choices about what we allow into our heads. If we fill our minds with worldly, ungodly input, we can expect to struggle with our thought life. Rather, if we take the advice of the apostle Paul, we can avoid a lot of difficulties:
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
Philippians 4:8–9
We can experience the peace of God when we devote our thoughts to these things. Satan may still have access, but he will find that he is attacking a much stronger person, one who is prepared to resist his efforts.