Our daily, physical needs and US trying to SEE TO IT that they are taken care of is a huge area where we can be tempted to sin. Let’s take a look at the Bible’s explanation of what we are going through as we deal with the desires of our body.

James 4:1-3 (NIV) What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You WANT something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you WANT. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

Mat 6:25 (NIV) Therefore I (Jesus) tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?

How do we get into places where we think things, feel things, say things, and do things that hurt us, those around us, and God’s plan? One of the ways we get started sinning is when we get fearful that we aren’t going to get our needs met. When we get involved in worrying, it can cause us to tell someone something that isn’t true so we can close a deal. If we think we are in financial trouble, we can start cheating “a little,” bending the rules “a little,” taking something that doesn’t belong to us, or “stealing” someone else’s client. We do it because we are WORRIED that IF WE DON’T we will go under.

What if you are about to lose a client if you don’t lie? What if you are about to lose your job if you don’t do what you are told and cheat someone? What if you have an opportunity to steal someone else’s client even thought it would be “a little bit” unethical? What if you had a chance to start up a relationship with someone else’s spouse? What if you were about to lose a friend, if you didn’t do something for them that wasn’t right?

The decisions of life aren’t always easy to make. We OFTEN face a choice of pleasing God or pleasing ourselves or someone else. Sometimes it looks like we have to sin just to make it in life. Can’t we just go ahead and sin and then go get God’s forgiveness? That would be a sin you committed ON PURPOSE; there would be consequences for it.

Rom 8:28 (NIV) And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. If you do the right thing, this Scripture will come through for you. If you sin, God will probably forgive you; but, this Scripture won’t come through for you. The hard thing is to BELIEVE that it will be better for us, if we don’t go ahead and sin and then ask for forgiveness later. BUT, God working for the good of those who love Him will OBVIOUSLY bring much better results than we can by sinning.

John 14:15 (NIV) If you love Me, you will obey what I command. The thing to keep in mind is, God works for the good of those who love Him. If you sin, then you are not obeying what Jesus commands. And, if you are not obeying what Jesus commands, then you don’t love Him. And, if you don’t love Him, then He won’t work for your good. And, if He isn’t working for your good, then you will end up with MUCH less than the supernatural results God would have given you.

At this point in this prayer, you are “doing what it takes” to change the methods of your life. Rather than doing some of those things listed in James 4:1-3, and some of those things that Jesus commands, you are learning how to come to God and ask Him for everything. He will give you WISDOM for how to get your needs met without cheating, lying, misleading, or being immoral. He will give you POWER to resist temptations and challenges that seem impossible. He will work you MIRACLES so that you get rewarded for doing the right thing.

What if you want something that will hurt you down the road? What if you want it with all your heart, mind, and soul? What if it has become the main drive for everything you think about and plan for? Whether you get it or not, it will consume your time, efforts, preparations, money, and resources. It will dominate you, shape you, direct you, and turn you into that kind of person. But, that can never happen to the person who is coming to God for their daily needs.

“What causes fights and quarrels among you?” Why are you having problems and difficulties with those sins, mistakes, and failures that you are having to bring before God? “Don’t they come from your DESIRES that battle within you?” This is your body’s system for getting what IT wants; BUT, God has a system for your inner being, your spirit, so YOU can getting what YOU want.

It isn’t just a matter of will and the power to fulfill that will. It also includes the system you USE for getting what you want. If you yield to the will or desires of your body, you will USE the system that James 4:1-3 describes. If you yield to the will of God, you will USE the system of the Lord’s Prayer; you will ask God for His supply for the meeting of your daily needs and wants.

Take a good look at the thing you are failing at and see if you can see the system coming from your body. Can you see traits described in James 4:1-3 being used and causing you to make mistakes, sin, and fail at doing what God wants you to do? What if you want something that wouldn’t be good for you in the long run? What if you are trying to get or accomplish something that would eventually take over your life? Let God heal you and take control over the things you want and need; pray this part of this prayer so you can use God’s system.