The key to the Christian life is prayer and the study of God’s word. A quiet time with the Lord is not some to do list religious exercise. There is a reason churches encourage people to spend time in God’s word and to pray. When we read Paul’s words in Romans 7 we can understand his description of himself.
Romans 7:15-24 ESV For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. [16] Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. [17] So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. [18] For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. [19] For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. [20] Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. [21] So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. [22] For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, [23] but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. [24] Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
There are many times that I feel like Paul. The things I want to do I end up not doing and the very things I do not want to do I end up doing. Who can deliver me? I certainly am not capable of delivering myself. The great thing about this passage is that Paul gives us the answer.
Romans 7:25 ESV Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
It is through Jesus Christ that we will be delivered. He tells us in Romans 8 how to win the battle over the flesh. He tells us how to live and walk by the Spirit.
Romans 8:1-15 ESV - There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. [2] For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. [3] For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, [4] in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. [5] For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. [6] For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. [7] For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. [8] Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. [9] You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. [10] But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. [11] If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. [12] So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. [13] For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. [14] For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. [15] For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
We walk by the Spirit by changing our thoughts. So we think, so we are. We have to change what we think about throughout the day. We do this through constant prayer and scripture memorization. These are weapons of war in this battle over our sinful flesh. Romans 8 tells us the that we put our sins to death by walking by the Spirit. We walk by the Spirit by memorizing scripture and prayer. When sin lurks at the door we should quote scripture and pray.
This is our challenge as a church this week. It is to pray out loud for 10 minutes while reading Romans 7:13-8:39.
Why pray out loud? Because it is easy for satan to interrupt our thoughts but it is much harder for him to interrupt our speech. We pray out loud so as not lose focus and keep our thoughts in line. Read this passage and claim these verses for yourself out loud.
Everyday this week spend 10 minutes in prayer and reading scripture. Memorize one of the verses in this passage to use a weapon throughout the week. If you cannot pray at home out loud, pray in your car.
Prayer is the greatest privilege that we have. We get to have a dialogue with the creator of the universe on a regular basis. Prayer is a privilege and it is also where the victory is won.
