Jesus, You told me to: “LOVE the Lord my God with all my heart and with all my soul and with all my strength and with all my mind; and, Love my neighbor as myself (Luke 10:27).”

Jesus, like Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:1-24 had the opportunity to actually walk and talk with God in the cool of the evening, I have this opportunity to live my life with You. But, even though they had this great opportunity, they failed to allow themselves to fall in love with God. Help me realize that love would have caused them to trust God implicitly. Help me yield to God’s love so I will trust Him implicitly. Because, without love I will distrust His motives concerning those things He tells me to do and not do.

Jesus, when the serpent who was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’ (Gen 3:1)?”, help me keep my helmet of salvation on.

Teach me that like Adam and Eve I don’t have to know that it is Satan talking to me. Teach me that it doesn’t matter as much WHO is talking to me as WHAT they are saying. Let me ignore for a moment the fact that I know this is Satan talking to them. Show me that I have to examine any questions or statements that are presented to me. Make it clear to me that my assignment is to decide whether or not I will CONSIDER these questions or statements. If I love God and only trust Him, then I will only listen to and accept those things that are in agreement with what He says.

Jesus, reveal to me what is wrong with this question? “Did God REALLY say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” Show me that I am being asked to question what God REALLY said. Help me realize Who is the authority on what God really said. Settle it in my heart that God is the authority on what He REALLY said. Teach me that if I discuss what God REALLY said with anyone but God, I have just taken my helmet off. Since there is only one way of getting information to flow through the helmet of salvation, it has to be information of truth or it won’t flow through.

Help me always know that if I am going to hear and accept someone’s words that aren’t true, I will have to take the helmet off so I can hear and accept them. Teach me how it works: First, I will have to listen to what a person has to say, then see if it matches up with what You have taught me, if it does I will allow it to pass through my helmet of salvation. If it doesn’t, I must leave my helmet on and allow it to block what was said; I don’t accept what they are saying AS TRUTH. If I ACCEPT as truth something that is in opposition to what You taught me, I have taken my helmet off because of my lack of love for You.

Jesus, help me not be like Eve in Genesis 3:2-3 (NIV). The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” She spoke God’s words like they were just human words. Help me speak them like You did in Matthew 4:4 as the final authority. You answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” You weren’t having a discussion with Satan; You were shooting Satan’s words down with the Word of God. Once You quoted the Bible, that was the end of the discussion as far as You were concerned. Help me use Your Word, the Bible, like that.

Jesus, when Eve quoted God, she wasn’t speaking it as being her life’s truth. God’s Word wasn’t the only thing she was willing to believe. She just presented it as one way of looking at the issue. She was still open to further discussion on the subject. Help me keep my helmet on so I can see God’s Word as being the only truth I am open to. Help it be that when I quote it, it is the end of anything I am willing to listen to. Help that keep me from being open to the next thing Satan has to say to me. When he said in Genesis 3:4 (NIV): “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman, Eve had her helmet off and was open to further information. She was not only open to further information, she was open to OPPOSING information. Teach me and empower me so that doesn’t happen to me.

Jesus, when Satan said in Genesis 3:4 (NIV): “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. Teach me that this wasn’t a person coming to Adam and Eve trying to find out the truth. Show me that Adam and Eve weren’t being asked for help with the technical, spiritual aspects of what the snake should or should not eat. The snake was CHALLENGING what they believed about what God said. If someone comes to me trying to create doubt in my mind as to what the Bible says, Who You are, whether Christianity is real, or anything like that, help me always be aware that they are not asking for help. They are trying to hurt me and my relationship with You.

Jesus, Satan told Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:5 (NIV): “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Satan was telling them that God was trying to cheat them out of special abilities that God had. He was saying that the reason God didn’t want them eating the fruit from that tree was because God didn’t love them. Help me see that these kinds of words will be blocked off by the helmet of salvation if I have a proper love for God. Show me that love will empower me to keep my helmet on and so trust God that it will be impossible for me to believe such a lie.

Jesus, in Genesis 3:6 (NIV), when the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, all the doubts and lack of love for You caused this next faith-action. She took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Help me see that I will take action based on faith in what Satan tells me if I listen and don’t reject it based on what You have told me. I will no longer be basing my actions on what God’s Word has told me. I will no longer believed what the consequences are going to be until I take faith-action on Satan’s words; THEN I will find out that God what told me was the truth; but, it will be too late.

Jesus, if they had loved and trusted God, they wouldn’t have died spiritually. Because, God told them: Gen 2:16-17 (NIV) And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” Teach me that, like all of God’s words, He told Adam and Eve the truth; and that is what He is doing with me.

Teach me that God didn’t kill them spiritually; eating the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil did. Help me see that God knew what was going to happen and warned them. Help me realize that Satan HELPED kill them spiritually by telling them: “You will not surely die.” Show me that this is what happens to me when I listen to opposing information and accept it. Adam and Eve killed themselves spiritually by basing their faith-action on what Satan said rather than God. Help me only base my faith-action on You and Your Word.

Jesus, teach me how the process works: They listened to Satan, doubted God, and the devil corrupted their minds. They believed a lie and were separated from fellowship with God. Because of my doubt in God, faith in Satan, bad decisions, and bad actions, You had to come to earth and die in my place. Then You rose again conquering death, hell, and the grave. Now I can live on the basis of salvation. In other words, now I can love God because of salvation. The Holy Spirit has made this relationship possible and real for me.