Jesus, help me understand the problem I would experience if I went into the grocery store and someone had removed all the labels on all the containers in the store. As I went around trying to find food, I wouldn’t know if I were getting food or rat poison. Help me see what life would be like if I went through it without having any labels on the spiritual issues of life. Show me that just like there are things that taste good that will hurt or kill me, there are things that feel good that will hurt or kill me spiritually. Make it clear to me that God knows and has identified all those things that are good for me and all the things that will harm me. Teach me that temptation takes place when Satan tries to get me to do something that God has labelled sin.

Jesus, teach me about the labels God has put on things that are good for me and can be ingested into my spirit: Gal 5:22-23 (NIV) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Help me alway eat this kind of fruit and know that it will bless, empower, and make me spiritually healthy. Teach me that these are the things I can allow into my life and they won’t hurt me; help me see that God has labelled them as being spiritual food for me.

Gal 5:19-21 (NIV) The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery (excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures); idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. Jesus, make it clear to me why God labels these and other things sin. Show me that it is because they are things that will destroy my life and the lives of the people around me. Teach me that these are the things Satan tempts me to get involved in because he is trying to destroy me.

Jesus, I have seen commercials that promised things it couldn’t possibly provide. I have noticed how beautiful and handsome the people are who present beauty products. Show me that these products cannot make me look like them. If I buy a certain brand of clothing, help me see that it will NOT make me be as popular as the commercial implies. Help me see that I really don’t need the newest upgrade that the commercial indicates will make my life so much better. Teach me that a lot of these commercials have the same characteristics as Satan’s temptations. Help me understand that they over sell and under deliver. However, help me also see that Satan’s temptations not only under deliver, they addict me, contaminate me, damage me, and can even kill me spiritually (separate me from God).

Jesus, help me understand that God knows the truth about all the THINGS I am exposed to in life. And, help me understand that He makes sure I know the truth about them. Teach me that if I really want to be happy, blessed, and successful in life, then all I have to do is let You and the Bible lead me through the process of choosing what is good and best for me. I won’t have to use the trial-and-error system for making my choices. I have bought a brand of food and found out it tasted horrible. A lot of times I have to buy a big quanity of something only to find out I don’t like it. But, teach me that with God, I am able to try out all He has to offer so I can make a knowledgeable decision as to whether or not I want it.

Jesus, teach me that Satan and the world take good things and insert wrong, bad, or evil things inside them. They take sex that God created as a good thing and try to get me involved in fornication or adultery. They offer me pleasure by getting involved in a sexual relationship prior to marriage (fornication); or, they offer me pleasure for having sex with someone else while I am married to another person (adultery). Help me see that with fornication and adultery, I get involved with someone I am not committed to and who is not committed to me. They and I would be two people involve in a sexual relationship that God hadn’t blessed. I could cheat on them, leave them, and not support them; and, they could do the same to me. Help me see that if the female becomes pregnant, often the child is murdered because it was outside a marriage. Teach me that Satanic bait consists of two things; it contains a wonderful provision of God such as sex but has a hook in it. Help me realize that it is used by Satan who puts an evil hook in the good things of God. When I yield to that temptation, Satan reels me into a life of sin.

Jesus, teach me that I am a spirit being who lives in a body; I AM a spirit and I HAVE a body. Teach me that I and my body aren’t the same; it has a system for life; and, I have a set of principles for life. Help me see that my body is very similar to a wolf; it has drives that are animalistic. It is selfish; has reproductive sex drives, has survival instincts, and will try to dominate as many people as possible through a “peck order.” Show me that its main rule is the survival of the fittest. It will hurt people, use them, abuse them, cheat them, lie to them, mislead them, and steal from them as long as it can keep from getting caught or having to pay for its sins. Help me understand that Satan’s temptations flow into my body; my spirit has to learn how to yield to You so I can keep those temptation from activating my body.

Rom 7:22-23 (NIV) For in my inner being I delight in God’s law. Jesus, make it clear to me that I have the ability to do to others what I would have them do to me (Mat 7:12). And, show me that I have the ability to love my neighbor as myself (Mark 12:31); but, my body doesn’t. Help me understand that when I was wanting to be selfish, self-centered, and prideful, I and my body were in full cooperation with each other. It seemed like my body was just a passive tool that simply went along with whatever I wanted. But, help me see that the moment I wanted to obey You and the Bible, I soon found out that my body had drives, passions, and desires of its own. And, I found out that it had more power to enforce those drives, passions, and desires than I did to resist them.

Rom 7:22-23 (NIV) For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see ANOTHER LAW at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. Jesus, make it clear to me that Satan’s temptations make sense to my body; he caters to the animalistic desires and drives of my body. But, help me see that You have a way for me to win over the weaknesses, drives, tendencies, and pressures of my body against my spirit. However, help me realize that I start out in the Christian life losing the battle against my body. Satan tempts my body with all kinds of sins and misdeeds; and, my body drags me right into them. Show me that even though I am a Christian, I find myself having the same failures I had before. BUT, help me see that there is a difference between me as a Christian and me as a sinner. I now WANT to do the right things; and, I now HATE doing the wrong things.

Rom 7:15 (NIV) I do not understand what I do. For what I WANT to do I do not do, but what I HATE I do. Jesus, teach me that once these WANTS and HATES come up in my spirit, my battle against my body starts. Make it clear to me that I got saved; but, my body didn’t. 2 Cor 5:17 (NIV) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, HE is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! Teach me that this happened to me, the spirit being; BUT, it DIDN’T happen to my body. Teach me that the real spirit me is the one who is wanting to do what is right, good, and righteous. But, also teach me that the body me, is the one who is wanting to do wrong, bad, and evil things; AND, it is powerful enough to go against my will and do them. So, empower me to join forces with You and win over my body.

Rom 7:20 (NIV) Now if I do what I do not WANT to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. Jesus, teach me that sin is still living in my body; my body still has a sinful nature resident in it. Rom 7:18 (NIV) I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. Teach me that I can’t win over temptation without Your power; my body is too powerful. But, help me see that before You can help me win, I must understand the difference between self-confidence and self-esteem and God-confidence and God-esteem.

Jesus, show me that as long as I believe in myself, I CANNOT believe in You. As long as I believe in myself, I will TRY to live the Christian life by using my own power, efforts, skills, abilities, and world training. Make it clear to me that THESE THINGS WILL NOT WORK! Help me understand that as long as I have self-esteem and confidence, You won’t be able to point out anything that is wrong with me. It will always hurt my feelings and hurt my esteem and confidence, when You point out errors in my life. Help me be aware of the fact that there are a lot of things that I am doing wrong that desperately need to be replaced with Biblical truths. But, help me see that if every Biblical truth hurts my esteem and confidence, I will reject it.

Jesus, if I do what I do not WANT to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me (Rom 7:16-17). Teach me that sin is still living in the body me; but, sin is NOT living in the spirit me. But, if my body me is forcing the spirit me to do what I do not want to do, that situation must not have an effect on my esteem and confidence. Make it obvious to me that my confidence and esteem are going to have to transfer over to You so I don’t get down. Rather than believing in myself, empower me to believe in You. Rather than being evaluated by this current behavior of my body, empower me to let You evaluate me. Teach me that the spirit me has been made the righteousness of God, in You, Christ Jesus; let that inspire my confidence and esteem. Since being born again didn’t happen to my body, empower me to not allow it to contaminate my esteem and confidence I am getting through You. Rom 8:10 (NIV) But if Christ is in you, your BODY is dead because of sin, yet your SPIRIT is alive because of righteousness.

Jesus, deal with the misdeeds of my body; but all during this time, help me always stay aware that I am NOT my body. Let this awareness empower me to take criticism about the behavior of my body without it hurting my esteem or confidence. I ask You right now to start dealing with, evaluating, and working on the deeds of my body; but, help it happen without it hurting me and my value. Rom 12:1 (NIV) Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. Even though I don’t know how to do this to my body yet, let God esteem and confidence help me be willing to do it. Even though this procedure will involve some pretty pointed, straight forward, and honest evaluations concerning my body’s behavior, help me feel good about it. Show me that once I am set free from self-esteem and self-confidence, You and I will be able to start making my body do the right things.