Jesus, let me slow this down; help me take a look at the steps as they happened.

1. First, Satan sent a flaming arrow or sword strike at You.
2. Then You blocked it and kept it from contaminating Your mind. You did this by obtaining a strategic, relevant Scripture in You mind; this was You using the shield of faith to protect Your heart and mind. Help me get strategic, relevant Scriptures popping up in my mind straight from You so I can use the shield of faith against Satan.
3. After that, You attacked Satan with the same Scripture You used to block the attack in Your mind; this is You using the sword of the Spirit to drive Satan back. Train and empower me to use the same Scripture to strike back at Satan.

Jesus, help me realize that the same Word of God (shield of faith) that protected You from yielding to the attack of Satan will be the same one that stops Satan in his tracks (sword of the Spirit). Help me learn Scriptures that protect as well as attack. Show me that I don’t need to use two different Scriptures; give me those Scriptures that are effective as a shield and as a sword.

1. Jesus, teach me how to block with the shield of faith so that the arrow attack is stopped before it can even get to my helmet of salvation or my breastplate of righteousness.
2. Teach me how to make the flaming arrow hit the shield of faith because it is the only piece of armor that has the ability to extinguish the flame.
3. Your shield of faith Scripture kept You completely intact and ready to strike back. Help me to have these types of Scriptures as I study the Bible. Show me which ones I am going to need in the near future. Help me always be ready for Satan’s attacks.
4. Then You applied the same Scripture to Your sword of the Spirit and struck Satan with it. Help me know how to apply Scripture to the issues I face. Give me Your knowledge, understanding, and wisdom so I can use the Bible with the same effectiveness.

Jesus, I noticed how there was no further discussion about the bread issue. Make it clear to me as to why Satan didn’t pursue the issue further. Help me see that if I follow Your procedures, it won’t do any good for Satan to keep coming at me with the same issue. The thought in Your mind would have remained the same. Help that be the case in my mind. You would have used the same Scripture to block the concept in Your heart and mind. You wouldn’t start hunting all over the Bible for a better Scripture. If Satan wanted to reintroduce the same temptation, You would simply think the same thought of Scripture and quote the same Scripture to Satan. Let me be so stable in Scripture that no matter how many times Satan tries to attack me with the same issue, I will always stick to the same Scripture in my mind and heart and quote it out of my mouth until Satan gives up.

Satan droped this bread issue with You because He knew You don’t change. Make that true of me; help me be a person who doesn’t change in my trust in You and Your Word. Help me use the same Scripture to strike Satan with over and over again. Teach me that Satan doesn’t like being hit with Scripture. Show me that it is extremely painful to be hit with the sword of the Spirit. Help me understand that the sword of the Spirit cuts deeply into Satan’s being. Then when Satan decides to try something else, it will be because he knows that I don’t suffer from faith duration problems. Make my faith where it isn’t on one minute and off the next. Help me always keep my shield of faith up. Help me do what You did, help me not block the flaming arrow and then put my shield down. Empower me to do everything to stand; let me stand ready for battle constantly. Help me have the armor on, the shield up, and the sword ready at all times.

Jesus, the tempter came to You and said, “If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Then You answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God (Mat 4:3-4).’” The satanic attack against You was: “If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” This was the flaming arrow that was trying to get into Your mind and heart. You needed a Scripture that would block this attempt to get You to try to prove that You were the Son of God by turning stones into bread. The temptation that Satan brings against me won’t be the same. Help me turn to You for a Scripture that will protect me just like this one did for You.

Just like the question was, what would be wrong with You trying to prove that You are the Son of God by turning stones into bread? I will be faced with the same type of confusing questions. And, Satan won’t come to me in any obvious form; I won’t know it is Satan. First, help me recognize Satan when he comes to tempt me. Then help me get a Scripture that tells me what to do or not do. Let this Scripture CAUSE me to be able to block off this temptation. When it pops up in my mind, let it give me my reason for not yielding to that temptation. Let it become a part of my shield of faith and protect my mind and heart. Let it be a Scripture that tells me what to do and what not to do.

Jesus, the tempter came to You and said, “If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Then You answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God (Mat 4:3-4).’” The satanic attack against You was: “If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” After You got a Scripture that convinced You that turning the stones into bread would be wrong, You needed a Scripture to drive Satan off. So, You didn’t just get the answer for Yourself as to what You were supposed to do, You needed one that resisted Satan and his words as an attack against Satan. Jesus, teach me how and empower me to submit myself, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from me (James 4:7). You didn’t just get a Scripture that would block off Satan’s attack against Your mind and heart. You didn’t just apply it to Your shield of faith; You applied it to Your sword of the Spirit. Help me do the same.

Jesus, You didn’t just think this Scripture and keep it to Yourself; You answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Help me not just think the Scripture so as to block Satan’s attack off from my heart and mind, help me also speak it out of my mouth. Help me do this first part for my shield of faith: Submit yourself, then, to God. Then help me do this second part for my sword of the Spirit: Resist the devil, and he will flee from you (James 4:7). Help me first come to You and allow You to bring a Scripture into my mind that would defeat this satanic attack. Let this be me submitting myself to You. Then empower me to take that Scripture that You brought into my mind and speak it out of my mouth; let this be me resisting the devil.

Jesus, the devil took You to the holy city and had You stand on the highest point of the temple. Then he said, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” And then You answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Help me not fall for flaming-arrow scriptures; give me Your power and wisdom to strike back with true Scriptures that destroy these flaming-arrow scriptures.

Jesus, I noticed the difference here; the devil is quoting Scripture. You have given me a lot of faith in Your Word, the Bible. I typically wouldn’t want to use my shield of faith to block a Scripture. But, this is a situation where You did. Help me see things the way You see them. Help me be able to recognize flaming-arrow scriptures. Help me see that the Scripture is being used out of context. The Scripture is talking about angels protecting someone who accidentally fell. Satan is trying to get You to “throw” Yourself down on purpose. Give me Your great skill so I can block Scripture with Scripture under Your total control. I don’t want to keep a good Scripture from entering my life by blocking it. But, I don’t want a flaming-arrow scripture to injure me either. Teach me that a flaming-arrow scripture is a set of words from the Bible that have been given erroneous meaning. It is used in a way that You had not intended it to be used.

Jesus, help me be like the Bereans who were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true (Acts 17:11). Make me like that; help me not be gullible; but, also help me not to be a skeptic. Give me Your powerful poor-in-spirit attitude from Matthew 5:3. It empowers me to only be teachable when truth is coming my way.

Show me how to block with the shield of faith without a strike with the sword of the Spirit, like the Bereans did. They could have struck back with the Word of God depending on further research. But, the Bereans did block the Scriptures they were being given. They didn’t just believe what they were being told without additional Scriptural proof. They were exhibiting noble spiritual character. Help me search the Scriptures before I believe anything I am taught.

But, more so help me be like You where You didn’t have to do further research. You already knew the applicable Scripture for the scripture Satan quoted. You already knew the scripture he was quoting was a flaming-arrow scripture. You answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” You knew that falling off the temple would have been a legitimate angelic need. You also knew that jumping off the temple would have been testing God to see if He would catch You. In this case Your Biblical research had already been done. You were instantly ready for the block/strike. I know that sometimes my battle will look like the Bereans. I will have to use the block, research, and respond accordingly system. But, in other cases, You will want me to be ready to simply block and strike. Teach me when to use each system.