“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry. The tempter came to Him and said, ‘If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.’

Jesus answered, ‘It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Then the devil took Him to the holy city and had Him stand on the highest point of the temple. ‘If you are the Son of God,” he said, “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.’

 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

 Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. ‘All this I will give You,’ he said, ‘if You will bow down and worship me.’

Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’

Then the devil left Him, and angels came and attended Him.”  Matthew 4:1-11 (NIV)

“So, Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.” Exodus 17:13 (NIV)

Dear Commander in Chief,

Your Word is our sword; a weapon formed against all the enemies of Your truth, all our temptations, and the all trials of our soul. With You there is always a way of escape, (1st Corinthians 10:13) and a place of sure footing when we are called on to stand by faith in You (Romans 14:4). Your word is feared and will be obeyed by the great and the lowest of the low. Your Word rebukes the devil and causes legions of demons to fear their end (Matthew 8:29.) Your Word commands the waves and wind (Luke 8:25). No created thing can resist the words of Your mouth—You cannot and do not lie (Romans. 3:4.) Your Word spoke the universe into being, sustains its foundations and sustains Your church (Colossians 1:17). The gates of hell cannot prevail against Your Word, spoken from the very beginning (Matthew16:18.) You are our Magnificent Warrior God!

Lord God, let Your Word dwell richly in us, transforming our being, renewing our minds as to what we think and why we think it. Let Your truth be the potter’s wheel on which the plans of our hearts are shaped and directed by You. Let Your Word have Your way in us, so that we are daily living and walking in truth. We desire the integrity that Your Word gives our lives, and the abundant life it brings to us and others. Help us show up to meet with You in Your Word. Let us throw off every encumbrance to meeting with You at the very start of our day. Use Your Word to make us an arrow in Your hand that You can shoot forth into every good work You have planned for us to do WITH You. Not only is Your Word a weapon for spiritual warfare, but You are fashioning us into Living Swords of Truth so we can cut down the strongholds of lies in our own thinking. We can discern and rightly see truth as we are sharpened by Your glorious, life-giving words of eternal life. Make us Your instruments!

In Jesus Name Forever

Photo credit: Jerome Ramos, https://unsplash.com/photos/uPN7TOX7rAo