Mat 25:31-33 (NIV) WHEN the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He WILL sit on His throne in heavenly glory. All the nations WILL be gathered before Him, and He WILL separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He WILL put the sheep on His right and the goats on His left. Jesus, help me learn how to use the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Help me be able to put forth such an offense that it protects me and sets large quantities of people free.

Mat 25:34 (NIV) Then the King WILL say to those on His right, “Come, you who are blessed by My Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.” Jesus, there are a lot of people right now who aren’t in a condition to be able to hear these words. Let me use the sword of the Spirit to cut them free from the influences of their body, the world, and the devil.

Mat 25:35-36 (NIV) For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited Me in, I needed clothes and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you came to visit Me.’ Jesus, so many are spending all their time trying to make sure their needs are met. Help me use the sword of the Spirit to help them be set free from selfishness.

Jesus, You used parables or spiritual illustrations to help me know how to pass Your final exam. When You told them many things in parables, You were trying to help us get the message through word pictures. Let me get the full message of this spiritual illustration. A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up (Mat 13:3-4). When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path (Mat 13:19). Thank You for helping me not fail Your final exam through rejecting ALL of Your training on how I am to live life.

Some fell along the path: Jesus, at first glance this doesn’t sound like something I, as a Christian, need to concern myself with; I didn’t reject the gospel message. But, let me take a look at what is going on here so I can be helped to pass Your exam with great success. Reveal to me what turns a person into having a heart that is so hard that it won’t even consider Your training. Teach me what kept them from learning how to help everyone get all their needs met for the rest of their lives.

I face this same situation that created the path condition. People who were trying to get from point "A" to point "B" used this area of my life to traverse across; I was getting walked on. The more I got walked on, the harder my heart got. But, the harder my heart got, the better of a path it became for people to walk on me. The more it became a good path, the more people used it and me to walk on. Gradually I became a popular path.

Jesus, help me not ignore this part of the parable. Since I am not a person who totally rejected Your salvation and training, help me see what it has to do with me. Reveal the truth about the varying degrees of success in the good ground Christians like me. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop--a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown (Mat 13:8). Show me why not all Christians reach their full potential of helping everyone get all their needs met for the rest of their lives.

But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown (Mat 13:23).” Yes Jesus, I have been walked on; yes, I have even been walked on by other Christians. Even though I didn’t allow all that mistreatment to cause me to give up on You, I still have damaged areas in my heart from it; and, that damages my crop production.

Show me what has happened to me when I got walked on and expecially when I got walked on by other Christians. Teach me that those areas of my life got hard. Reveal to me that those areas of my life aren’t able to produce a crop. Make it clear that, that means they are areas of my life where I am not able to be used to help people in need. Help me give these areas up to You for healing, so I will know how to help others with such problems. The difference in me and the "path" person is that I don’t have this problem all over my life. I just have little patches here and there where my heart is hard. But, if I have a lot of these areas, however, I can be reduced all the way down to thirty percent of normal crop production.

Jesus, help me see that the Holy Spirit isn’t going to let me use the sword of the Spirit to cut the legs off of passersby. But, He will help me fight the effects of their walking on me. He will help me when I have been walked on by someone I trust. Then when I face a real temptation to retaliate, harbor resentment, or build up a wall against all other potential pedestrians, He will teach me Your principles that set me free. Let the Holy Spirit help me use the sword of the Spirit to love and forgive them.

Even though Satan will stage an all-out siege against my brain, will, heart, and mind, even though he will be trying to get me to make a bad decision, I can’t just stand there and let him pound on my helmet of salvation all day long. Train me and empower me to be strong in You and in Your mighty power. Help me put on the full armor of God so that I can take my stand against the devil’s schemes (Eph 6:10-11). Show me that, that is when the sword of the Spirit and the shield of faith will play a vital part in protecting me. I must allow the shield of faith to help me believe that You are doing a good enough job of protecting my rights.

Jesus, help me come to You, when I am weary and burdened, and You will give me rest (Mat 11:28). Help me give You all the issues about people walking on various areas of my life. Even though it doesn’t seem fair to me that people are using and abusing me, help me give my attitudes over to You and let You handle the people. Teach me that my battle is with Satan and not with people. Teach me that my struggle is not against flesh and blood [people], 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 (Eph 6:12).

Keep me aware of the fact that Satan is the one who is trying to get me to hate the people and attack them. He wants me to try to make them stop doing things to abuse me. Show me that the people are just Satan’s messengers. Satan is pushing and influencing them to use and abuse me. Teach me that it isn’t a physical problem (people); it is a spiritual one (You and me vs. Satan). Help me go to You and ask You to set me free from this satanic attack; then help me find the Scriptures that keep me from getting mad at people. Help me use Scriptures to protect my attitudes. Help me “attack” the people with love. Help me start doing special things for them. Help me pour God’s love on them until they melt.

Jesus, help me hear You on this commandment for me. Empower me and train me on how to: Love my enemies, do good to those who hate me, bless those who curse me, pray for those who mistreat me. If someone strikes me on one cheek, empower me to turn to him the other also. If someone takes my cloak, empower me to not stop him from taking my tunic (Luke 6:27-29). Help me to allow You to train me so I will become a surgeon with my sword of the Spirit. Make it where I will be able to cut between the person and the chains that bind them to Satan.

Teach me that this isn’t my weaponry AGAINST people it is FOR people. Show me that when I love people who are doing things that should cause me to hate them, this confuses them and causes them to see the powerful light of God. Teach me that if, after an adequate period of time, they don’t respond to Your love through me, then I am to separate myself from them and start working with others who need You. If I can’t completely separate myself from them, then help me avoid them as much as possible. Help me to spend most of my time with those who will listen to me about Your plan for them getting all their needs met for the rest of their lives.