Thank you. You just taught me a valuable lesson. I have heard many people tell me to rebuke satan (I use lower case to disrespect). After reading your reply to me, I searched and searched but could not find this in the Bible. I made the mistake of believing something that was not Biblical. I always try to ensure that I do not do this.

I Googled and wound up at Gotquestions.org “Do Christians have the authority to rebuke the devil?”

In this answer, the author wrote all of the things that Christians should be aware of such as Ephesians 6:12 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Then, writes “ Satan is the power at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God (Ephesians 2:2). Anyone who is not under the control of the sovereign God is under the control of the devil (Acts 26:18; 2 Corinthians 4:4). Born-again Christians are no longer enslaved to Satan or to sin (Romans 6:6–7), but this does not mean we are immune to the temptations that he puts before us.”

I understood all of this.

Then the writer wrote “The Bible does not give Christians the authority to rebuke the devil, but to resist him. James 4:7 says to “submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Zechariah 3:2 tells us that it is the Lord who rebukes Satan. Even Michael, one of the most powerful of the angels, did not dare to accuse Satan, but rather said, “The Lord rebuke you” (Jude 1:9). In response to Satan’s attacks, a Christian should appeal to Christ. Instead of focusing on defeating the devil, we should focus on following Christ (Hebrews 12:2) and trust that He will defeat the forces of evil.”

I would ask whether Michael saying “The Lord Rebuke you” is not the same thing as Christians rebuking satan since in, either case, we must call on the Lord to rebuke satan. Our words mean nothing, only God listening to our words then acting on them matters. We alone can do nothing.

So, I have had to rethink my belief that it is my duty to rebuke satan. I must now call on the Lord to ask that satan be rebuked. To me, it may only be a matter of semantics but I will see it this way from now on. This understanding will influence what I write at Medium.

Again, thank you for imparting some wisdom to me.