Jesus, You are adding more and more Scripture to my sword as I take...the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. You are using more and more truth to show me how to take the sword of the Spirit and use it with great skill. As You expose me to Scriptures that apply to my life situations, I am growing in my skill. I am doing this with You so I will not only pass Your final exam, but, will become a producer of a hundred times what was sown.

Jesus, thank You for teaching me that You are going to hold me responsible for this final exam: 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. Thank You for telling me that this exam decides WHERE I will spend eternity. Keep teaching me how to pass this final exam with such skill that I don’t just barely make it in to Your Kingdom. Help me keep learning how to use the sword of the Spirit with such effectiveness that I am becoming the very best there is in You.

Jesus, thank You for teaching me that there is an additional exam for those who pass Your final exam. Help me use the criteria in this exam to help me know what to do so I can go far beyond just passing Your final exam. In 1 Cor 3:12-13 (NIV) I am being taught that I can get Your power and training to do things that really matter.

Help me fully understand the criteria in this Christian test. Let it help me go far beyond passing Your final exam: 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. There have been times, after I became a Christian, where I just desired, studied, prayed, believed, loved, and took faith-action to fulfill the basic, minimum requirements. Change that attitude in me; help me put everything I have into the Christian life.

Help me keep making this commitment in Phil 3:13-14 (NIV): 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. I thank You for using this to help me pass Your final exam with ease. I believe that this commitment gives me the power to go out and help everyone everywhere. It is empowering me help them get all their needs met for the rest of their lives; and, we will do this through Your principles. Keep teaching me more and more Scriptures that will build and empower my skill with the sword of the Spirit.

Jesus, I have renounced secret and shameful ways; I do not use deception, nor do I distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly I commend myself to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. (2 Cor 4:2)

Teach and empower me to use the sword of the Spirit to attack all those things that try to get into my life that are secret and shameful practices. Rather than using deception, You are making me honest, open, and only involved in win/win procedures. You are helping me only live by the truths of God that help to meet everyone’s needs. This is done by You teaching me how to use the sword to drive off all temptations to live to the contrary. You are helping me set forth the truth plainly so everyone can learn how to pass Your final exam.

Jesus, because of Your training and empowerment, I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to everyone the word of God in its fullness. (Col 1:25) You and the sword of the Spirit are helping me teach people how to apply God’s Word to every aspect of their lives. Rather than presenting it where it can only be lived around other Christians, You are teaching me how to help them see how it blesses their relationships, their marriages, their families, their businesses, their careers, and their lives.

Jesus, let Your word dwell in me richly as I and my friends teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as I sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in my heart to God (Col 3:16). As I become more skillful in using my sword of the Spirit, my relationship with You grows into a tremendous amount of appreciation, respect, love, and thankfulness. I see all my relationships grow into incredible blessings through properly applying God’s Word. My finances, emotions, physical condition, relationships, and spiritual success are moving into the blessings of God.

Jesus, I also thank God continually because, when I received the word of God, which I heard from other humans, I accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in me because I believe. (1 Th 2:13) Keep me from thinking that Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, Peter, James, and Jude wrote the books of the Bible. Help me always read it as what it is; it is the Word of God. When I read it, help me understand that You are speaking to me through it.

Jesus, empower me to study to show myself approved to God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Tim 2:15 AKJV). Let this be the way for me to become skillful in using the sword of the Spirit. Help me realize that it isn’t until I know the truth, that the truth will set me free (John 8:32). Since You won’t teach me Scriptures I am not willing to read and study, help me study. I have to know a truth exists before it can set me free. Show me that reading and studying are vital to my success with my sword of the Spirit.

Jesus, help me preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction (2 Tim 4:2). Teach me that great patience and careful instruction help me not just use the sword in a wild, hacking fashion. Rather than me always using general, all inclusive Scriptures to deal with the issues of my life, teach me specific Scriptures that zero in on each issue through my reading and studying.

Jesus, help me train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God (Titus 2:4-5). Help me teach them that the first responsibility of husbands and wives is to their spouse and their children. Let me show them that if they fail in the family, they will automatically fail everywhere else. Help them understand that if they see an area where they are having trouble in their marriage or family, it will be the same area where they are failing in business, their other friendships, and all the other areas of their life.

Jesus, make it clear to me that the word of God is living and active (powerful). Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart (Heb 4:12). As I gradually learn and grow in my abilities to use the sword of the Spirit, help me not just use it as a sword to defeat satanic issues. Help me learn how to use it like a surgeon’s scalpel. Help me become so trained and skilled that I am able to set large quantities of people free from all kinds of problems and struggles with it.