Do you grow weary of the daily battle against temptation and sin?

I do.

How do you pray when Satan relentlessly tries to derail you?

To what extent does Bible truth influence how you pray?

What follows is a poem in which I acknowledge the pressure of spiritual battles and cite Bible truths that I often preach to myself.

 

Warfare Prayer to God the Father

Please remove from me the delight of sin.
Instill more resolve for the war within.
Prompt me to wield the weapons You provide;
the weapons on which the Savior relied:
fasting, earnest prayer and a sword—Your Word.
Satan assailed; Christ remained undeterred.

 Like a hungry lion, stalking his prey,
Satan attacks at the start of each day.
Though Satan insists, “This sin satisfies!”
You assert, “He is the father of lies!”
One promise prevents me from feeling grim:
You offer far greater pleasures than Him!

Resisting last year is no guarantee
that today, I will achieve victory.
I must guard my heart and plot defenses,
to avoid sin’s grievous consequences.
To presume I’ll win this war isn’t smart,
unless I relentlessly guard my heart.

When I do fail, grant me convicting grace.
Break my heart until tears stream down my face.
Show me the cross, so I will clearly see
Your sacrificial, lavish love for me.
After I confess, I’ll worship and shout,
knowing You’ll never, ever cast me out!

 

The following truths and Bible texts inspired the lyrics:

• Sin promises pleasure, but never lasting satisfaction (Hebrews 11:24-25).
• The pleasures God offers far exceed the fleeting pleasures of sin (Psalm 16:11).
• Temptation harasses us throughout life. No matter how much we progress in holiness, Satan never stops trying to derail us. He persisted in tempting Jesus (Matthew 4:1-11). He will persist against us.
• Peter compared Satan to a roaring lion, seeking to devour prey (1 Peter 5:8).
• To win at spiritual warfare, we must “choose to use” means of grace that God provides. Spiritual warfare requires effort in employing means of His grace. God is not opposed to effort, but He does oppose earning! Holiness involves diligent pursuit on our part (Hebrews 12:14). Jesus modeled the use of several weapons: solitude; fasting; prayer and Scripture memory (Matthew 4:1-11). Yet we can’t fight sin merely through human endeavor and willpower. Spiritual warfare requires spiritual weapons and the enablement of God’s Spirit (2 Corinthians 10:3-5; 1 John 4:4).
• Jesus called Satan “the father of lies” (John 8:44).
•  Christians wrestle with what John Owen called the indwelling sin of believers. Writing to Christ-followers, John insisted we’re still sinners who must acknowledge and confess our sins regularly (1 John 1:8-9).
• We must not assume that victory over sin in the past means we’ll never give in to that sin. We must match Satan’s persistence with our own. Guarding our heart is a daily endeavor (Proverbs 4:23). We need to guard our heart because we cannot trust it (Jeremiah 17:5, 9; Mark 7:15-23).
• We should sin less as we grow in Christ, but we won’t be sinless until we meet Christ face to face (1 John 3:2-3).
• When God’s Spirit grants us the grace of painful conviction, it should break our heart. We should grieve not primarily due to painful consequences of sin, but because we’ve hurt the One who died for us by taking His death on the cross lightly (Psalm 32:1-5; 51:1-13; Ephesians 4:30).
• If we put our faith in Christ, we aren’t condemned for sins we commit (Romans 8:1). Christ paid the penalty for our sins (2 Corinthians 5:21). Yet in this life, even forgiven sins may reap severe consequences. (David was forgiven for sins of adultery and murder, yet consequences included the death of Bathsheba’s child and painful conflict within his family (2 Samuel 12:1-14).
• The pain of conviction is temporary, preventing worse consequences if we were to continue in that sin. Knowing the price He paid on the cross to redeem us, we exult in His love (Psalm 5:11; Romans 5:11). We should never doubt His acceptance of us.
• When confession is necessary, Jesus welcomes us with open arms because we were justified before God when we put our faith in Christ’s substitutionary death for us (Romans 5:1). We can approach Him confidently (Hebrews 4:14-16). I must not mope around, carrying the burden of past sin for which Christ paid. His astonishing love motivates me to obey Him more consistently.
• Referring to those of us who have put our faith in Him, Jesus employed a double negative to emphasize that He will never, ever cast us out (John 6:37).

 

I’ll put a cap on this post with a quote from Elyse Fitzpatrick from her devotional book, Comforts from the Cross. I love the distinction she makes between self-condemnation over our sins and the Holy Spirit’s conviction:

There is a significant difference between conviction brought about by the Spirit and self-condemnation brought about by the Accuser (Satan). Conviction of sin draws me away from myself and toward God; it frees me to repent, grants me sorrow over offending my King, and floods me with relief in knowing that his smile still rests on me. It eventuates in my loving Jesus more.

Self-condemnation, on the other hand, draws me down into myself and away from God. It makes me afraid and distrustful of him. It entraps me in unrelenting self-loathing and unbelief. Self-condemnation doesn’t make me love Jesus more, because it is not necessarily about him. It’s about me.

 

Persist in your spiritual battles. You aren’t fighting alone!

 

Here’s my review of Elyse’s book. It’s a 31-day devotional.

Is The Cross of Christ Comforting You?