🙏 How the Most Underrated Verse in the Bible Silenced Satan

Good Morning. Some verses get all the attention. But one of the most powerful phrases in the Bible is also one of the most overlooked. Jesus used it three times in the desert, and each time, satan had no reply. Those words? “It is written.”

📖 Verse Of The Day

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

— Matthew 4:4

🧠 Devotion

Some phrases in Scripture echo across history. “The Lord is my shepherd.” “For God so loved the world.” “It is finished.” We know these well. But there is another phrase, often overlooked, that carried the weight to silence Satan himself: “It is written.”

The scene is the wilderness. Jesus has fasted forty days. His body is weak, His stomach empty. This is where Satan comes, when defenses seem lowest. He tempts Jesus with food, with safety, with power. Three attacks. And three times, Jesus answers the same way: “It is written.”

No miracles. No angelic armies. No dramatic displays of force. Just Scripture. Jesus stands on words that were already spoken, truth that was already settled. And the enemy has no reply.

That is why “It is written” may be the most underrated phrase in the Bible. It reveals the unshakable authority of God’s Word. Temptation is not defeated by human strength or clever arguments but by anchoring ourselves in what God has declared.

And there is more. Years later, on the cross, Jesus spoke another three-word phrase: “It is finished.” One at the beginning of His ministry, the other at the end. One in the desert, the other on a hill outside Jerusalem. Different settings yet bound together in perfect symmetry.

“It is written” looks back, declaring that the promises of God already stand. “It is finished” looks forward, declaring that the plan of God is now complete.

The wilderness foreshadows the cross. What Jesus began by trusting God’s Word, He completed by fulfilling God’s Word. The first phrase shows us how to fight. The second shows us that the victory is already won.

This is more than poetry. It is the heartbeat of the gospel. When we face temptation, we do not have to invent new defenses. We can say with Jesus, “It is written.” And when we feel defeated, we can rest in His final cry, “It is finished.”

Together, these two declarations remind us that every battle is fought with God’s Word and every victory is secured by Christ’s work.

🙏 Prayer (Guided by ACTS)

When you’re not sure how to pray, A.C.T.S. gives you a simple path to follow: Adore, Confess, Thank, and Ask.

Adoration: Lord, I praise You as the God whose Word is unshakable and whose work is complete.
Confession: I confess that I often rely on my own strength in standing on what You have written.
Thanksgiving: Thank you for giving me Scripture as my weapon and the cross as my victory.
Supplication: Help me to speak “It is written” in my battles and to rest in “It is finished” everyday.