It seems that the author is talking about Satan listening to us pray out loud. We are "alone" with God that is why we are in "secret", but Satan is listening in.

Only God can read thoughts, no one else, including Satan, can. Satan can see what we do, hear what we say, and know that we are similar in nature to the billions he has observed that have come before us. Therefore Satan can know us as well as anyone.

I am not sure about that...do all our thoughts come from God? Can Satan not put thoughts in our head? It is also worth noting that Satan is probobly not at work on us himself, he can not be every were at once. It is most likley his demons working on us while he is working on Piper, Driscoll and MacArthur (or whom ever)

The devil and demons can't read minds I don't think.

When we are in our time of communion with the Lord in silent prayer, Satan knows not what we are thinking.
Though it should matter not to us what he knows or doesn't know.

We need to resist him, and say, "The Lord rebuke you".

The secrets deep in our souls, the Father knows, and that's comforting and convicting; and it should Fill the soul with joy and liberty, together with fear and repentance.

Praise the Lord that He who is me, is greater then he who is in the world.

Whoops! That should say, "He who is "in" me.

Satan did enter Judas, the son of perdition. He did put into his heart to betray the Savior. Luke 22:3 John 13:3

He did sift Peter like wheat, but Jesus prayed for Peter.

Angels have spoken to men in dreams and visions, but that is not the same as knowing what a man is thinking, and we have no reason to believe that this ability is something intrinsic to their nature - anymore than Peter raising a man from the dead would have been intrinsic to his nature. Things happened, were recorded as they happened, and we are not given enough information to make a case one way or the other.

Likewise, we read in Revelation 8:3-4 that an angels was given a censer filled with incense to offer, along with our prayers, on the golden altar before God's throne - by which some might suggest that the angels are intermediary agents who carry our prayers and present them to God - this image coupled with that found in Matthew 18:10 (the angels of the little ones see God's face constantly) - may bolster such an impression.

Which is to say that if one were to neglect the evidence in scripture to the contrary - and present these shadowy verses as "suggestive" of such a thing - perhaps a weak case could be made for the notion that angels can read our mind. Surely we know that God reads our mind (he read Sarai's mind when she laughed in her heart, he read Hannah's mind when he heard her prayers, etc.), and some might in their thinking confuse these instances of God knowing our hearts in scripture with angelic beings reading our minds (What can we say - some people have only a vague recollection of these things, and act upon that...), but I feel that the case from scripture to "prove" that angels can read minds (and therefore fallen angels) is not terribly convincing given that so little evidence can be found to support the idea, and what can be found is rather shadowy at best - and given that the evidence to the contrary is rather solid - I would be inclined to say that Satan doesn't listen to my thoughts.

Others have already chimed in to mention that angels are not omnipresent, nor omniscient, but are creatures and have their sentience/awareness bound to some spatial parameters just as we do, so it is quite unlikely that Satan himself is listening to my prayers personally. But everything we say out loud may well be heard by some fallen angel - not that I expect that fallen angels would need to hear our prayers in order to mount an appropriate attack against us, if we are not ignorant of their devices, they are certainly not ignorant in the way they war against us.

I think Satan can do whatever God allows and gives him power to do.

We have to remember that angels are spiritual beings not constrained by physical matter in the same way we are. In other words, they're not human. Since they are not human, we must be careful not to attribute human limitations upon them.

Satan is a created being, a fallen angel. He does not have the ability to hear our thoughts, only the Creator can do that. He has the ability to influence, tempt, accuse, possess the lost, blind their minds, and even afflict physically, but the Bible makes it clear that his powers are limited. The only one who can know your thoughts besides you is God (I Cor.2:11; I Chr.28:9, etc.). But it certainly seems like the devil can hear our thoughts, doesn't it? In fact, at times it seems like he is in our heads, doesn't it? Doesn't it?

The devil did not know what Job was thinking before he started his work on Job and challenged God by saying "Does Job fear God for nothing? But now, stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face" (1:9-11). The devil was wrong.

Thanks, guys. I agree that Satan cannot read our minds. I was just wondering if I had missed something in light of Gurnall's statement. I suppose he could have meant when we pray aloud. It just seems odd to me that anyone would do that alone.

[Note to Gothardites: Yes, I know all about The Power of Crying Out. It's baloney.]

I pray out loud alone. It's much easier to keep my mind on the right track when my mouth is working alongside it.

I also pray out loud alone, not always, but many times...

Satan doesn't need to read minds, he has at least 6000 years of reading behavior, he can plant thoughts perhaps, but he can definitely observe when a sinful stimulus appears and our response to it, and therfore know how to strategize...our Enemy in the spiritual war is allowed behind the lines, as it were, and we had better realize that...no secret sins...

What!? You aren't aware of the unbelievable potential of praying aloud while alone?! How do you expect God to answer audibly if you aren't praying audibly? Don't you want to hear God speak?!

Seriously, I pray aloud alone a lot and find it helpful to me.

So, you all are saying I'm the odd one. Well, I guess that's possible.

David, I would suggest that rather than trying to pray out loud all at once, you start with just moving your lips silently - like Hannah did. Then, as you grow more confident and comfortable, you could try the occasional sigh or deep groan. Don't try to pray out loud all at once, it will come in its own time.

A better question might be, "Can Satan read blogs?" And if so, does he?

Daniel,
It's not like I've wanted to and tried, but couldn't. I've never felt the urge to pray aloud. I'm confident God can hear me just fine.

Jeremy,
I don't know. I'll watch my StatCounter. What ISP should I be looking for?

David, well, if you aren't going to pray out loud, you could at least lift up your hands piously in front of you, and perhaps adopt a serene heavenward (but closed-eyed) stare? That way the devil will know for sure you are praying. ;-)

I'm actually quite good at pious posturing.

can satan read your mind and put thoughts into your mind>

Maudie, I don't believe Satan can read our minds or put thoughts in our heads. However, I believe he can tempt you, and so "put thoughts in your mind" indirectly. For example, I can't put thoughts in your head, but I could set a plate of donuts in front of you which might cause you to want one. I wouldn't be putting thoughts of eating donuts in your head, but nevertheless, I would be the cause of those thoughts. Satan could, and does, "put thoughts in your mind" in that way.