Question: There is a Christian woman at work who told me that she has been praying for Satan's salvation.

QUESTION: There is a Christian woman at work who told me that she has been praying for Satan's salvation. I shared with her that I believed this to be a worthless effort but could not come up with the scriptural references to back me up. Would you please provide me with references to Satan's fall and his nonredeemable nature?

RESPONSE: Although your co-worker may be quite sincere in her effort to see Satan saved, she has no biblical basis for it. The Scriptures give us no indication that the devil and those angels who followed him in rebellion can be saved. Instead we are told that he will be cast into the Lake of Fire, where he will spend eternity (Rv 20:10).

His rebellion began in heaven, where self-exaltation and self-deification became his goal: "I will be like the most High" (Is 14:14). It is Satan who "deceiveth the whole world" (Rv 12:9). He is the "accuser of our brethren" (Rv 12:10). He goes about "as a roaring lion...seeking whom he may devour" (1 Pt 5:8).

Although God has allowed Satan some reign in the cosmic battle for the hearts of mankind (see TBC 6/97), your co-worker's prayers should not be directed to God forSatan but rather for believers, so that they may be able to resist him by being "stedfast in the faith" (1 Pt 5:9). God gives us His spiritual warfare instructions regarding Satan in James:4:7Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
See All...: "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." Prayer for ourselves and for our fellow saints is critical in every aspect of our lives, especially in being "able to stand against the wiles of the devil" (Eph 6:11).