Beneath The Candy Coating


BENEATH THE CANDY COATING

“...put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” – Ephesians 4:22-24

Bad habits are my daily nemesis.  I start off each day with determination, to only be met a few hours or days later with feelings of regret or disappointment.

If you are anything like me, we struggle and strain and vow to do better, only to succeed for a time and then revert to our old ways.

“Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.” – Zephaniah 4:6

We can’t conquer these habits and temptations by ourselves.  We have tried might and power.  We need God’s Spirit to breathe life and fire back into our purpose and sanity back into our minds.

Father, we confess that we fight our flesh, but still succumb to temptation and the comfort of familiarity of our old ways.  We bring our disappointments, messes and mistakes —those things that to date have bested us. We lay them at Your feet, admitting that we are powerless to conquer any of this on our own.

We can dig forever, but no amount of shoveling can dig us out of the pit we are in.  We recognize that You are the only one who can deliver us. We submit ourselves to Your hand, thankful that our confession is met with Your mercy (Pro 28:13).

We can only will ourselves to behave differently for a season.  It requires a work of Your Spirit to truly change us, change our minds and to break the grip of these habits that ensnare us.

Deliver us from temptation—from the false gods we unknowingly worshipped in an attempt to comfort ourselves.  Remove the hook from our lip by which the enemy pulls us around.

We will always fight this battle as long as we continue to see what imprisons us as good. So give us Your perspective, Lord. Remove the enemy’s candy coating that lures us to swallow the poison of temptation.   We ask for a revelation of truth that exchanges our wistful longings for what harms us, with wisdom, strength and a desire for You and Your best (Ps 37:4).

We humble themselves before You and ask You to remake us for Your glory.  And as we let go of our old ways, fill our hands with good things and our hearts with more  of Jesus.  In Jesus’ Name ❤️

If you have been encouraged or challenged, please SHARE!
https://www.facebook.com/Prayers-of-a-Ragamuffin-Warrior-171515087035441/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A City On A Hill

Image
A CITY ON A HILL By:  Julie Souza Bradley Lilly “You are light for the world. A city cannot be hidden when it is located on a hill. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket. Instead, everyone who lights a lamp puts it on a lamp stand. Then its light shines on everyone in the house.” – Matthew‬ ‭5:14-15‬ ‭GW‬‬ And I saw thousands of souls struggling in a churning sea.  Under the darkness of a moonless sky, without a boat, they were tossed.  Beneath them sharks swam, nipping at heels, eliciting sharp cries from those who flailed.  It caused them to cling to their neighbor, pushing them to submerge, sputter and gasp.  Exhaustion, chaos and hopelessness hovered over the waters like a mist, obscuring the small points of light that seeped out from around the boarded windows of the nearby city on a hill.  The city on a hill—a beacon of hope to those drowning, contained behind windows shuttered with fear. Lord, we see chaos all around us —man’s inhumanity to man— fear, anxiet
Read more

Paul’s Handkerchief Prayer

Image
Good morning, my friend!  Good morning, Father! “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” - Deuteronomy 31:6 Lord, we don’t have to be the only one in a room to feel alone.  We can be in a coliseum full of people and still feel lonely.  We feel alone in our skin.  You encourage us to not forsake meeting together as a church (Hebrews 10:25), but it is the internal companionship that keeps us from feeling loneliness in that packed coliseum. Father, I lift my friend.  Your Word says that where two or more are gathered in Your Name, You are there in the midst of them.  So Lord, as in Acts 19:12 when Paul sent a blessed handkerchief to the sick and they were healed, likewise, across time and space I take hands with Your precious child.  Together we bow before You and admit we need You.  We invite Your presence.  If they feel lonely or alone today, in their life or in
Read more

Beauty Among the Ashes

Image
Good morning, my friend!  Good morning, Father!   “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that   I would see the goodness of the Lord in  the land of the living.   Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage,   And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!” - Psalm 27:13-14 Father, we thank You that with You all things are possible.  All around us there are financial troubles, poverty, disease, depression, anxiety, divorces, confusion, disappointment, illness, loss, pain and grief.  The list goes on and on.  People are suffering, Father, and are clinging to the last vestiges of hope.   Lord, I lift up my friend.  You know precisely what weighs on their mind today, and which troubling thoughts strike fear in their heart.  Long seasons of struggle bring with them weariness and discouragement.  I cry out to You on their behalf, Lord.  You are able.  We ask for miracles.  Nothing is too difficult for You.  We ask that You take what the enemy intended for evil
Read more