Have you ever wondered why it’s so easy to speak the Word to someone else, to pray, intercede and fight for them in the midst of their struggle, but it’s hard for you to do the same for yourself. I was talking with a friend the other day, when this subject came up. She was stating how when she is in the middle of the struggle, sometimes it’s hard to pray the same prayers for herself and speak the same words over her life that she may have just spoken over the life of someone else. As I begin to talk through this with her, some powerful words came out of my mouth. I said, “The difference is, when you are fighting for someone else, you’re just simply fighting for them. You’re not in the struggle. But when you’re fighting for yourself, you’re now fighting against your will.” It may seem trivial, but it was a powerful revelation at that moment for exactly where my friend was in her struggle. And I think it would do us good to look more closely at this.
When you’re fighting for yourself, you’re now fighting against your will!
When you are fighting and praying for your own deliverance, you have to contend with yourself and struggle with your will. Sometimes, our greatest battles are against ourselves!! Our flesh does not want to submit. We feel what we feel, we think what we think and we want what we want when we want it! We can quote the Word of God all day and encourage others to stand fast in the liberty where with Christ has set them free, but when the fight turns inward, it’s easier said than done. It becomes a consummate struggle. That is why we must daily learn to submit our will to God’s will. We must be transformed by allowing our minds to be renewed by the Word of God. We must meditate upon His Word, and yield oursleves to it’s sanctifying, life-changing power. Philippians 2:5 & 13 says, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus…For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” Romans 12:2 says, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
Let God transform you through the renewing of your mind, so that you can begin to think like Him. The battles that we fight against ourselves are all waged on the battlefield of the mind! The flesh is saying what it wants. The intellect is thinking through how it can get the flesh what it wants. The will is trying to make a determination if it will allow the flesh to get what it wants, while all the while the emotions are screaming this is how I feel. However, the Spirit is also there, unctioning and gently instructing us on what we should do. Now the will is conflicted because it must decide who will have it’s way…the flesh or the Spirit! There is quite a battle going on and it’s a battle between the flesh and the Spirit to see who will ultimately influence and determine the decision of the will. The more we get into the Word of God, spending time talking to God in prayer, fellowshipping and communing with Him, the more we will think like Him. Then the struggle becomes less and less intense, because the influence of the flesh and the emotions are diminished, the intellect is apprehended by the Spirit of God and the will determines that it will obey and submit to the will of the Father.
Allow the Word of God to transform your thinking. Let it become such a part of you that you begin to walk it out in your daily life…and as you do so, you will have DAILY ENCOUNTERS WITH GOD!
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