THIS MONTH’S MEDITATION SCRIPTURE:
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world is passing away, and also its lusts;but the one who does the will of God abides forever. 1 John 2:16,17
This month’s article is pulled from the archives, first appearing in August 2017. Today, with self-isolating still a very real part of our lives worldwide, we havesuch a possibility for much idle time. For those who battle with sexual sin, idle time is our enemy. I pulled this article to take a fresh look at its prayer, and with a fresh title.
Oh God, I thank You that You love me, even when I choose my will over what I know is Your will. I thank You for the sacrifice of Your Son Jesus, offering salvation to a fallen world. I thank You that You’ve said in Your word that nothing created can separate me from Your love. I thank You that You know my heart and my thoughts, and You still love me. I thank You that You desire for me to surrender the wickedness that is in me, that I might live as the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. I thank You that Your Spirit is ever with me and in me and that I am never out of Your presence.
I praise You that I am fearfully and wonderfully made. I praise You for Your wonderful works, and that You have ordered and numbered my days to serve You. I praise You as God, Father, King, Creator, Savior, Redeemer, Holy Ghost, and Deliverer.
God, You know my heart is to please You with my life. You know my desire is to show my love for You by being obedient to Your word, which tells me to flee sexual immorality. In this, I have sinned repeatedly against You and Your will for me. I have chosen my own way over Your known path for me. I understand You have chosen that path out of Your love for me, yet I have rejected and strayed from Your way time and time again. Please forgive my pride and arrogance, thinking my way will bring me something better than You. Please forgive me for giving in to the lust of the flesh, rather than dying daily to my flesh, as You tell me to make no provision for it in regard to its lusts. Please forgive me for ignoring the way out of these temptations that You provide in every situation. Please forgive me for not utilizing the tools You have provided me for escaping those temptations. I repent of my sins and I pray that my repentance will be true and genuine, and that I will see repentance as a way of life, not as a destination.
Father, I ask that You help me in surrendering my will to Yours. Please help me see that I am powerless in my own strength to overcome the temptations towards lust and sexual immorality that I face daily, even multiple times a day. I pray that you will strengthen me by the power of Your Spirit to resist those temptations when they come, every time they come. May Your Spirit living in me empower me towards victory over these temptations. May He strengthen me so that I do not allow myself to get carried away and enticed by lust, which bring about sin and death. Lord, please strengthen me by Your Spirit to make choices towards purity and holiness in my life that honor You with my obedience. Enable me to remember to bring every thought captive to Your obedience, using Your word as my standard. Bring to my mind to reach out to those who hold me accountable when I am tempted before I have sinned against You, rather than confessing to them afterwards. May I learn to know the fear of the Lord, and delight in it as was prophesied about Jesus.
As David wrote after his sin with Bathsheba, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me…Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and sustain me with a willing spirit.”
God, I need Your grace and Your mercy and the power of Your Spirit every day. I want to be a man who fulfills Your destiny in my life, and I don’t want to allow my sin to keep me from accomplishing that destiny in You here on earth. May my life be lived in Your love for Your glory, in Jesus’ name. Amen
