Jesus, You have empowered me to take...the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. You have been helping me learn how to take the sword of the Spirit and use it with great skill. You are helping me do this so I will not only pass Your final exam, but, become a producer of a hundred times what was sown.

Jesus, thank You for showing me how to meet the needs of everyone for the rest of their lives. Thank You for getting me ready for Your final exam. Thank You for making this true of me: 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 (Mat 25:35-36). Since this exam decides WHERE I will spend eternity, You are empowering me to live based on its requirements; but, I don’t want to just barely make it. You are helping me learning how to use the sword of the Spirit to be the very best there is in You.

Jesus, thank You for teaching me that if any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work (1 Cor 3:12-13). Once becoming a Christian, some just desire, study, pray, believe, love, and take faith-action fulfilling the basic minimum requirements; help me not be like that. Help me be one of those who put everything they have into the Christian life.

Let the commitment in Philippians 3:13-14 be what I am doing so as to go into eternity with great rewards from You: I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus (Phil 3:13-14).

Jesus, 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). I have felt picked on, abused, unappreciated, and misunderstood. I have felt so sorry for myself that I have been unable to see that I have a lot of faults, sins, shortcoming, failures, and misdeeds of my own. When this happens to me, I can’t repent because I am too busy blaming everyone else for all that is wrong with me. Set me free from this hardness of heart so I can repent of all those things I am doing that are wrong.

Help me take my sword of the Spirit and attack all these bad attitudes in my heart and life so I can be set free. Jesus, If I claim to be without sin, I deceive myself and the truth is not in me. If I confess my sins, You are faithful and just and will forgive me my sins and purify me from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:8-9). Let this help me stop blaming others and be able to deal with my own spiritual problems.

Jesus, I thank You for teaching me that the one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away (Mat 13:20-21). As I run into people’s opinions, criticisms, resistance, rebukes, and lies, help me be ready to go to God’s Word for Scriptures that defend me.

Help me always realize that I am blessed when I am persecuted because of righteousness, for mine is the kingdom of heaven. I am blessed when people insult me, persecute me and falsely say all kinds of evil against me because of You. Help me rejoice and be glad, because great is my reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before me (Mat 5:10-12). Help me use wonderful Scriptures like this to defeat the opposition to my faith and love for You.

Thank You for teaching me that the one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful (Mat 13:22). Teach me how to apply Your Biblical principles to my career, my job, my finances, and my debt. If I end up spending most of my life “making a living,” I will be a lake. It will all be flowing into my with little or none flowing out.

When I take up my sword of the Spirit, I will use Scriptures like Luke 6:38 (NIV): Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Help me start being a river; AND, the more I measure out, the more You will measure it back to me.

Thank You for teaching me that 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). Thank You for helping me fulfill the requirements of Your final exam making me good soil. You revealed to me that if I confess with my mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in my heart that God raised You from the dead, I will be saved. For it is with my heart that I believe and am justified, and it is with my mouth that I confess and am saved (Rom 10:9-10).

You showed me in 1 Corinthians 3:12-15 what this “he produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown” (Mat 13:23b) is all about. You are helping me pick up my sword of the Spirit and use Philippians 3:13-14 (NIV) to make this commitment: I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. It is helping me get a desire, a commitment, and a determination to press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in You (Phil 3:14 AKJV).

Jesus, You teach me to honor my earthly father, but men made their own rules that said: He is not to ‘honor his father’ with it. Thus they nullify the word of God for the sake of their tradition (Mat 15:6). I have a lot of philosophies, beliefs, principles, and concepts that I have received from the world. Some of them were taught to me from a very early age; so, I accept them as truths and base my life on them. But, the truth of the matter is, they are destroying my business, marriage, family, friendships, relationships, and life.

Help me pick up my sword of the Spirit by going to Scriptures like Rom 12:2 (NIV) that speaks power and transformation into me to not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of my mind. Then I will be able to test and approve what God’s will is--His good, pleasing and perfect will. This spoke faith, truth, and power into me that healed my will, mind, heart, and brain. I am now rejecting all these world-training ideas and replacing them with the truths of God.

Jesus, You replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it (Luke 11:28).” There are a lot of things I can do in reaction to hearing some part of the word of God. I can ignore it, disagree with it, not apply it, put it on a shelf for some other day, or I can apply The Six Biblical Principles to it and be empowered to obey it. Help me always take advantage of The Six Biblical Principles.

I am now taking up my sword of the Spirit and using Scriptures like John 1:12 (AKJV): But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. This puts me in a place where I am able to do what I do because I am who I am. As a child of God, power flows into me enabling me to hear the word of God, understand it, and apply it by using my sword of the Spirit.

Jesus, thank You for teaching me that You are THE sword of the Spirit. John 1:1 (NIV) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. You are the reason my sword of the Spirit is so powerful, effective, and easy to use. It is because I am not applying it myself. You are flowing in and through me giving me Yourself as the sword of the Spirit for every situation.

Jesus, thank You for teaching me that You are MY sword of the Spirit. John 1:14 (NIV) The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, Who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. When I have You flowing in and through me as my sword of the Spirit, it becomes obvious why the Scriptures I use are so powerful and effective.

Jesus, I am already clean because of the word You have spoken to me (John 15:3). I now use my sword of the Spirit to defend my position in that cleansing. Jesus, God made You Who had no sin to be sin for me, so that in You I might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor 5:21). You have made me clean; now it is just a matter of using my sword of the Spirit to stay clean. Teach me and empower me to use my sword of the Spirit to live on the basis of the fact that all Scripture is God-breathed and is useful (powerful) for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, SO THAT I, as a person of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Tim 3:16-17).