(Please note: This is a piece I wrote last month for our church newsletter. I had intended to post it here several weeks ago, but I somehow got distracted.)

Lately God keeps reminding me to hide His living, active Word in my heart and to speak His Word in prayer. And it seems no matter where I go, this is the message I hear over and over.

The first reminder came as I was preparing to teach our Sunday School class of preschoolers and Kindergarteners. We were learning about Jesus in the desert being tempted by the devil, and there it was: Jesus victoriously using God’s Word, the sword of the Spirit, to fight the enemy and his lies. The devil had to flee, remember?

Oh, I wish you could have seen the surprised faces when I drew my plastic sword to hook the kids’ attention! As a mother of two girls, I never imagined those little boys would have so much to say about swords. They were ready to fight!

Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is living and active. 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.”

The next reminder came in my Thursday night women’s Bible study Believing God, as author and speaker Beth Moore told us to be “armed and dangerous.” That is, armed with God’s Word and dangerous to the devil. Beth recounted a time when she was walking her dogs with her husband at his deer lease. A rattle snake reared its ugly head, ready to strike. In one very swift movement with his shotgun, Beth’s husband Keith immediately blew off the snake’s head. My apologies to any snake lovers that may be reading this, but what a vivid illustration of how God’s Word can crush the devil!

Finally, at our annual fall luncheon for women, another reminder came from keynote speaker Phyliss Masters, a retired missionary. Just 18 months before her husband was martyred, Phyliss had resolved to memorize God’s Word. She memorized one verse of Scripture a day, rehearsing and reviewing each verse for 49 days so that she would hide it in her heart for life. Phyliss had hundreds of Bible verses memorized at the time of her husband’s death, and she says God’s Word proved itself quick and powerful over and over again.

God not only licenses us to conceal and carry His Word as a weapon, but He also empowers us to use it, as 2 Timothy 3:16 says, for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. May we always be quick on the draw!