Lucifer's Lies: Lessons Learned from The Screwtape Letters

I love moments when you’re sitting in a classroom setting and someone says something that hits you like a ton of spiritual bricks. This scenario happened to me last semester as I was sitting in the Gospel Doctrine class in my ward. To start off the lesson, our teacher asked for a few volunteers; I was picked. We went into the hall, and the teacher explained to the three of us that we were going to be “selling” a product to the rest of the class. My “product” was self-doubt. We couldn’t say what out product was exactly; we could only describe what it could do for them. As I got up in front of the class, I decided to put a spin on my product. I said something along the lines of, “My product will help you notice everyone else around you and their talents. You’ll be more appreciative of the abilities of those that surround you. President Hinckley did counsel us to ‘forget ourselves.’ King Benjamin tells us that ‘when we are in the service of our fellow beings, we are only in the service of our God.’ My product will make you less about ‘me, me, me’ and more about helping those around you to notice their talents. If you buy my product, you will take the focus off of you and move it to those around you.” Out of the three, mine was the overwhelming choice. Then we unveiled our “products.” Most people weren’t shocked with the other two; they had figured they were less-than-admirable attributes. However, mine was a shocker. As I revealed mine to be “self-doubt,” many were floored. One guy turned to me with a look of disgust and stated, “I thought you were selling ‘charity!’” It is about his response that I wish to blog today.

I must explain how I came up with my sneaky sales pitch. I’ve recently finished my favorite book outside of holy writ, The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. To give a brief background of the book, it is about an apprentice devil, Wormwood, that receives counsel from his uncle, the master devil Screwtape. They follow individuals (patients or creatures, as they call them), and try to pry them away from God (or as Screwtape calls Him, the Enemy) and Christianity. Screwtape does not take the blatant road; rather, he slips in subtleties to lure one down a seemingly harmless, yet devastatingly destructive, path. I got my inspiration from Screwtape during this little exercise in Sunday School. Let me share some highlights I found while reading The Screwtape Letters that can help us detect the all-too-subtle tricks of Old Nick. Here are just ten lies that Satan will tell us to pry us away from our eternal prize.

Lie #1: How and to whom you pray makes no difference.

Notice that most of the time he doesn’t try to tell us not to pray. He simply wants to make our prayers as least effective as possible. Prayer is the direct communication we have with our Heavenly Father. Satan will try to disrupt that communication or devalue it as much as possible. When I think of disrupting prayer, my first thought always comes from Star Wars. When the two forces are attacking each other, the first command given is usually along the lines of “Take out the communication towers!” They understand that without communication, it is nearly impossible to defeat the opposing force. There is no unification. Thus, we can see Satan’s strong desire to divorce men from their God. Firstly, Screwtape draws attention to the position of mens’ bodies when they pray. He instructs Wormwood to put in the creature’s mind that it doesn’t matter what position you are in. He quotes Coleridge as saying “that he did not pray ‘with moving lips and bended knees’ but merely ‘composed his spirit to love’ and indulged ‘a sense of supplication’.” Screwtape goes on to explain, “That is exactly the sort of prayer we want... At the very least, they can be persuaded that the bodily position makes no difference to their prayers; for they constantly forget, what you must always remember, that they are animals and that whatever their bodies do affects their souls.” I hear a lot of people say, “I don’t need to pray a certain way. I can do it in my bed or in my car or standing up and call it good.” There is some truth to that. God wants to hear from you. But here is my point: if God was in the room with you, would you have the I-can-do-it-whatever-way-I-want attitude? My guess is “probably not.” Which brings me to my next point about prayer.

What you say and to whom you say it is important. Lewis makes a point of this when he writes Screwtape saying, “Keep the patient from the serious intention of praying altogether...This is best done by encouraging him to remember, or to think he remembers, the parrot-like nature of his prayers in childhood.” To me there is a difference between saying your prayers and praying. I have been guilty of simply saying my prayers. However, I have had the sweet experience of praying to my God and Eternal Father. We must understand who it is to whom we pray. Screwtape points this out when he gives the following advice to his nephew, “I have known cases where what the patient called his ‘God’ was actually located -- up and to the left at the corner of the bedroom ceiling, or inside his own head, or in a crucifix on the wall. But whatever the...object, you must keep him praying to it - to the thing that he has made, not to the Person who has made him.” When we truly pray to the Grand Creator and our personal Father in Heaven, we will understand our purpose more. I know I have. My intimate conversations with my Father have been the only way I have made it through 22 years in this world.

Lie #2: Fear is a part of life. Get used to it.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Lewis echoes this inversely through Screwtape when he tells young Wormwood, “Fear becomes easier to master when the patient’s mind is diverted from the thing feared to the fear itself.” If Satan can master fear by getting us to forget the things in front of us, we should try that much harder to be rational when considering our difficulties.

An addendum to the last paragraph, Screwtape makes an interesting parallel. He tells Wormwood, “Hatred is best combined with Fear... The more he fears, the more he will hate.” We tend to couple those two together in our lives. We feel threatened by those we hate, and we hate those who threaten us.

Another quote from His Deceitfulness says, “[God] wants men to be concerned with what they do; our business is to keep them thinking about what will happen to them.” This solidifies the principle taught in the Book of Mormon by Father Lehi for us to “act for [ourselves] and not be acted upon” (2 Nephi 2:26). We must take control of our lives and accept responsibility for our actions. In our world, everyone is trying to pass the buck to someone else. As Screwtape points out, God is concerned with what we do. Machiavelli’s theory of the ends justifying the means can be tossed out. Satan wants us to think of our reputation, our pride, our ego. If he can have us fear losing our status rather than our integrity, he wins.

Simply put, be careful not to let Satan gain control. President Boyd K. Packer stated, “We should not be afraid of what is ahead... [We] need not live in fear. Fear is the opposite of faith.” Don’t let him rob you of your life; don’t feed the fear. Later in The Screwtape Letters, Screwtape says, “The creatures are always accusing one another of wanting ‘to eat the cake and have it’; but thanks to our labours they are more often in the predicament of paying for the cake and not eating it.” We buy into him and his scare tactics so much. Do we reap anything from that? No; we leave that cake on the table to get stale along with our hope.

Lie #3: Time is not a valuable commodity.

Of course he would attack our time. It’s how we prove ourselves to God and show our faith in Him. It’s how we return to Him. If Satan can have us squander time, he can have us squander our chances of returning to our Father. Screwtape states, “You can make him do nothing at all for long periods.” This is so true. Movies. Television. Facebook. Sports. All of these things can be used for good purposes or can act as black holes for our time and duties.

We must also make sure we are acting now to ensure our future. As Screwtape reminds us, “The duty of planning the morrow’s work is today’s duty; though its material is borrowed from the future, the duty, like all duties, is in the Present.” To look now for what may come and plan accordingly is not an easy thing to do. However, it is much better than the alternative. We can’t simply sit on our hope chest and wait for these things to happen. Again, Screwtape offers great insight from a devil’s perspective, “[God] does not want men to give the Future their hearts, to place their treasure in it. We do.” Those sneaky little demons want us to always have our eyes a mile down the road. They don’t want us to see that pothole that’s about to pop our tires and prevent us from that goal a mile away. We should plan now for life’s potholes. Maybe we can swerve away from them. If not, at least we’ll have a plan if we do hit one.

Lie #4: Fulfilling callings isn’t important.

I love callings. I think it’s a fascinating system. Other churches should give everyone something to do. I’ve been able to serve as a ward missionary, youth Sunday School teacher, Gospel Doctrine Instructor, YSA Representative, bulletin board coordinator, activities committee, home teacher, and I currently serve as my ward’s Sunday School President. I’ve had callings that would take maybe five minutes per week. My present calling consumes much more time than that; however, I am loving it!

Unfortunately, not everyone is as pumped about callings. I won’t even begin to step onto my home teaching soapbox. You can refer to my previous post, “Hometeaching: No Greater Call”, for that one. Some feel that their callings are too small to even matter. Others feel their callings take up way too much time, and they place that on the back burner. Both mentalities are wrong. We must be careful of this lukewarmness. Screwtape understands this principle of being lukewarm when he says, “In this state, your patient will not omit, but he will increasingly dislike, his religious duties. He will think about them as little as he feels he decently can beforehand, and forget them as soon as possible when they are over.”

We may not stop doing our duties, but our disdain will fester until we lose our faith in the very reasons for which we accepted the calling in the first place. Do we forget about them ASAP? Can a man be an Elder’s Quorum President on Sunday and forget about it the rest of the week? Not an effective one. I am always grateful to EQPs that were and are available to me whenever I need them. Recently, I needed advice from an old home teacher who also served as my EQP. At midnight in the middle of the week he opened his door to me. He’s not even my home teacher anymore! He didn’t NEED to do it! He followed the Savior’s counsel when He said, “And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain” (Matthew 5:41). This man lives the “second-mile standard.” He goes above and beyond his “duties.” If Satan can have us hate what we do for the Kingdom of God, it’s probably more successful to his empire than if we didn’t do it at all. As Moroni teaches us, “For behold, if a man being evil giveth a gift, he doeth it grudgingly; wherefore it is counted unto him the same as if he had retained the gift; wherefore he is counted evil before God” (Moroni 7:8).

Lie #5: Committing small sins aren’t that big of a deal.

Alma taught us that it is “by small and simple things are great things brought to pass” (Alma 37:6). I’d also venture to say that small and simple sins lead to the commission of serious transgressions. C.S. Lewis gives the true purpose Satan has for wanting us to commit the tiny sins, “But do remember, the only thing that matters is the extent to which you separate the man from the Enemy [God]. It does not matter how small the sins are provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into Nothing.” He simply wants to separate us from our Father because he is separated from Him. We’re told in the scriptures that “he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself” (2 Nephi 2:27). Then Screwtape says an interesting thing, “Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick.” What are our cards? What does Satan use to distance us from God? What keeps you from reading your scriptures? Praying? Doing service for others? Performing your calling? Going to the temple? Beware of the cards Satan has up his sleeve.

In an April 2008 General Conference address, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf stated, “I have learned that the difference between happiness and misery in individuals, in marriages, and families often comes down to an error of only a few degrees.” One of the most famous quotes from The Screwtape Letters says, “Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one -- the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.” We must be on our top game to detect the cunnings of the cunning one. Turn to the Lord. His signposts are marked; His path is clear; His way is straight.

Lie #6: Recognize your humility.

“Beware of pride.” President Ezra Taft Benson is known for this landmark address. It is one of my personal favorites. Humility is the opposite of pride; hence, we should be humble in all of our actions. Satan knows this. What will he do? He’ll try to exploit our humility and twist it like he does everything else. There is a point in the book where Wormwood is worried because he sees humility in his patient. Screwtape, seeing it as a last resort, gives the following counsel, “Your patient has become humble; have you drawn his attention to the fact?... Catch him at the moment when he is really poor in spirit and smuggle into his mind the gratifying reflection, ‘By jove! I’m being humble’, and almost immediately pride -- pride at his own humility -- will appear.If he awakes to the danger and tries to smother this new form of pride, make him proud of his attempt -- and so on, through as many stages as you please.” This was an eye-opening passage to me. Do we ever feel wronged because we see people succeeding that aren’t keeping the commandments? It’s almost like the prodigal son. We feel like the older brother, “I’m the good one! Where’s MY reward?” We become proud of our own righteousness and spirituality. That’s how Satan robs it from us.

Now comes where I got my inspiration for my Sunday School sales pitch. Screwtape tells Wormwood that his patient probably does really have some talents. But then he tells Wormwood to “fix in his mind the idea that humility consists in trying to believe those talents to be less valuable than he believes them to be.” This is when we hide our light under a bushel. I’ve seen people that can play the piano, yet they refuse to mention it to anyone because they’re “not that good” and “other people could do much better.” You never know where your talents could lead you nor the lives they could touch. Be humble. But make sure your humility isn’t strangled by the pride in your humility.

Lie #7: You have no defense against Satan 

In Ephesians, we’re told about the armor of God. All of the armor is defensive, save one: the sword of the Spirit. The Spirit is our one sure defense from the adversary. Will we be tempted? Of course. But because of our Constant Companion, those temptations will have no power over us. Screwtape refers to the Holy Ghost as “the asphyxiating cloud,” calling it “the Enemy’s most barbarous weapon.”

We must surround ourselves with things of the Spirit. Our homes must be sanctuaries. They must be that shelter from the storm. I know I want my home to be. I want people to be able to come to my home and feel safe, to feel surrounded by the Spirit, even if they don’t recognize it as such. When Wormwood’s patient begins to date a Christian woman, panic sets in for the apprentice devil. Screwtape then goes on a tirade with his disdain for the member of the Godhead being present in her home, “The whole place reeks of that deadly odour. The very gardener... is beginning to acquire it. Even guests, after a weekend visit, carry some of the smell away with them. The dog and cat are tainted with it.” I really think Satan hates the Holy Ghost, especially when He influences us to do good.

There are several ways we can invite the Spirit into our lives. I will focus on the two Screwtape mentions: music and silence. Screwtape exclaims, “Music and silence -- how I detest them both!” I love music. I’ve felt the Spirit so many times while listening to both the lyrics and the melody of some songs. I know why he hates it: because it is beautiful. That leads to the next things he hates: silence. If the adversary can replace the heavenly sound of uplifting music with something that simply produces noise, he can squelch the Spirit out of our lives. We live in a fast-paced society. Sometimes we don’t take the time to stop and listen to the Greatest Gift we have been given: the Holy Ghost. He won’t compete with your adoration of the world. There are plenty of people who desire to listen to Him. Be one of them.

Lie #8: If we give ourselves to God, we lose our own identity.

The Savior taught, “He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it” (Matthew 10:39). I want to let Screwtape be the main one to teach this principle. He says to Wormwood, “As a preliminary to detaching him from the Enemy, you wanted to detach him from himself... Of course I know that the Enemy also wants to detach men from themselves, but in a different way... When He talks of their losing their selves, He only means abandoning the clamour of self-will; once they have done that, He really gives them back all their personality, and boasts (I’m afraid, sincerely) that when they are wholly His they will be more themselves than ever. Hence, while He is delighted to see them sacrificing even their innocent wills to His, He hates to see them drifting away from their own nature for any other reason. And we should always encourage them to do so.” I honestly don’t know how else to explain this or to expound it further. I’m going to let Mr. Lewis stand alone here.

One point that I do want to make referring to another quote is deciding whom we worship. As mentioned before, when we give ourselves to God, we become more ourselves than ever. Later in the book, Screwtape mentions something that his Father (Satan) might worship. What the thing is isn’t the point of focus, it’s the line that follows. Screwtape says he’d worship it “if he worshipped anything but himself.” When we honor God, God honors us. When we honor Satan (by not honoring God), we receive no honor from him. He is an island. He worries about no one but himself.

Lie #9: Knowing is enough.

In 1957, “I Am a Child of God” was performed in front of Elder Spencer W. Kimball. When he heard the lyrics, “Teach me all that I must know to live with him someday,” he asked Naomi Randall, the song’s lyricist, to change it to read, “Teach me all that I must do to live with him someday.” President Kimball later declared, “To know isn't enough. The devils know and tremble; the devils know everything. We have to do something.” As a poem once said, “Satan knows there’s a God and believes in Him, too. So what’s the difference between Satan and you?” The answer is simple: action.

When advising Wormwood to keep his subject in the stagnant stage, he counseled, “The great thing is to prevent his doing anything. As long as he does not convert it into action, it does not matter how much he thinks about this new repentance.” He will do anything to keep us from converting the thoughts the Spirit places in our minds into action. Eventually Satan wants us to become desensitized to the promptings and feelings of the Holy Ghost. Screwtape goes on, “The more often he feels without acting, the less he will be able ever to act, and, in the long run, the less he will be able to feel.” Dormancy will dull our spirit and His.

Lie #10: God and his followers will lose in the end.

Satan is scared of God. Therefore, Satan is scared of those that truly follow God. Screwtape says that they fear “the Church as we see her spread out through all time and space and rooted in eternity, terrible as an army with banners.” He confesses, “That... is a spectacle which makes our boldest tempters uneasy.” If we are to make Satan sit uneasy, we must also be rooted in eternity. We must cleave ourselves unto the Church so we don’t cleave ourselves from our Savior, the general in this great battle.

I know life is hard. Sometimes Satan tempts us to lure us away from our Home on High. Sometimes it’s the Father that gives us trials so we can grow and be shaped into what He knows we can be. Nevertheless, we must press forward. Screwtape reveals a severe weakness in a devil’s plan, “Our cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do our Enemy’s will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys.” Wow. I know there have been times in my life where I don’t seem to be able to see God’s hand in my life. Thankfully, I can say that I still pressed on. As I read that passage, it made me smile to know that I was a thorn in the side of the thorny one. The Prophet Joseph Smith declared, “I was destined to prove a disturber and an annoyer of his kingdom; else why should the powers of darkness combine against me?” (Joseph Smith - History 1:20). May we ever be annoyers and destroyers of his kingdom is my prayer.