Lord, You chose us as Your beloved sons and daughters, to receive the Spirit which convicts us of our sin, leads us with kindness into repentance, and writes the words of grace indelibly upon our hearts. Stir within us a longing to grow more mature in our faith - to leave our childishness behind, and to grasp the value of each day and to live in Your presence and purpose.
Galatians 5:22-24 ESV
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires."
2 Timothy 1:6-7 ESV
"For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control."
Day 40 - Prayer for Self-Control
The more we mature, the more we understand that some thing are not worth fighting over or for...if we have peace from our relationship with God. If we do not have that peace, then we constantly feel like we're missing out or losing out on opportunities or pleasures or fleeting pursuits. If the Spirit works contentment and security in our souls from the beauty of the relationship God has given us with Him, then we do not chase after other things.
An example: if you have the job you want, you don't look at other job postings. Marketers always shake your contentment to get you to want more. Satan tries to shake our contentment with God to get us to covet other things. Think of how he did that with Eve and Adam.
Self-control comes through the Spirit who matures us to recognize the value of things. Some things last eternally. Actually, only a few things do. Pray for God's Spirit to keep our minds set on things above, for our hearts to recognize the love God keeps showing to us daily, and for our character to grow. Pray for God to help us to mature and to have self-control, to submit ourselves daily as a living sacrifice to God, and to stop "crawling off the altar" and away from Him.
Pray for others in our church to mature and for us all to be about God's glory and His will for us.
Thank you for starting off 2018 with me in prayer! Next Wednesday is the beginning of Lent, so look out for more ways to spend time with God each day. Keep praying every day!
Blessings,
- Pastor David
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