Jesus, help me understand that my daily, physical needs and ME trying to SEE TO IT that they are taken care of is a huge area where I can be tempted to sin. Let me take a look at and understand the Bible’s explanation of what I am going through, as I deal with the desires of my body.

Jesus, help me understand what causes fights and quarrels in me and through me. Show me that they come from the desires that battle within me. I WANT something but don’t get it. I kill and covet, but I cannot have what I WANT. I quarrel and fight. I do not have, because I do not ask God. When I ask, I do not receive, because I ask with wrong motives, that I may spend what I get on my pleasures (James 4:1-3).

Jesus, You are telling me, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. And you are asking me, is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes (Mat 6:25)? Teach me that the way I get into places where I think things, feel things, say things, and do things that hurt me, those around me, and God’s plan is because of worry.

Jesus, help me see that one of the ways I start sinning is when I get fearful that I am not going to get my needs met. Help me understand that when I get involved in worrying, it can cause me to tell someone something that isn’t true so I can close a deal. Show me that if I think I am in financial trouble, I can start cheating “a little,” bending the rules “a little,” taking something that doesn’t belong to me, or “stealing” someone else’s client. Help me understand that I would be tempted to do it because I was WORRIED that, IF I DIDN’T, I would go under.

Jesus, help me get to the place where if I am about to lose a client if I don’t lie, I still won’t sin. Help me get to the place where if I am about to lose my job if I don’t do what I am told and cheat someone, I still won’t sin. Help me get to the place where even though I have an opportunity to steal someone else’s client but it would be “a little bit” unethical, I still won’t do it. Help me get to the place where if I have a chance to start up a relationship with someone else’s spouse, I won’t do it. Help me get to the place where if I am about to lose a friend, if I don’t do something for them that isn’t right, I won’t do it.

Jesus, even though the decisions of life aren’t always easy to make, empower me to make the right decisions. Even though I OFTEN face a choice of pleasing God or pleasing myself or someone else, help me always please God. Even though it sometimes looks like I have to sin just to make it in life, help me look to You for a way to get the job done without sinning. Keep me from just going ahead and sinning and then going to get God’s forgiveness. Teach me that, that would be a sin I committed ON PURPOSE; there would be consequences for it.

Jesus, I know that in all things God works for my good because I am one of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose (Rom 8:28). Make it clear to me that if I do the right thing, this Scripture will come through for me. But, if I sin, God will probably forgive me; but, this Scripture won’t come through for me. Even though the hard thing is to BELIEVE that it will be better for me, if I don’t go ahead and sin and then ask for forgiveness later, empower me to still not sin. Help me understand that God working for the good of those who love Him will OBVIOUSLY bring much better results than I can by sinning.

Jesus, if I love You, I will obey what You command. Help me keep in mind that, God works for the good of those who love Him (John 14:15). If I sin, then I am not obeying what You command. And, if I am not obeying what You command, then I don’t love You. And, if I don’t love You, then You won’t work for my good. And, if You don’t work for my good, then I will end up with MUCH less than the supernatural results God would have given me.

Jesus, at this point in this prayer, I am “doing what it takes” to change the methods of my life. Help me stop doing some of those things listed in James 4:1-3, and some of those things that You command. Help me learn how to come to God and ask Him for everything. Teach me that He will give me WISDOM for how to get my needs met without cheating, lying, misleading, or being immoral. Teach me that He will give me POWER to resist temptations and challenges that seem impossible. Teach me that He will work MIRACLES so that I will be rewarded for doing the right thing.

Jesus, help me see that if I want something that will hurt me down the road, if I want it with all my heart, mind, and soul, and if it has become the main drive for everything I think about and plan for, whether I get it or not, it will consume my time, efforts, preparations, money, and resources. Show me that it will dominate me, shape me, direct me, and turn me into that kind of person. Make it clear to me that, that can never happen to me when I come to God for my daily needs. Empower me to always come to God for my daily needs through Your prayer.

What causes fights and quarrels among you? Jesus, show me the reason I have problems and difficulties with those sins, mistakes, and failures that I am having to bring before God is, because they come from my DESIRES that battle within me. Show me that this is my body’s system for getting what IT wants. Show me that God has a system for my inner being, my spirit, so I can get what I want.

Teach me that it isn’t just a matter of will and the power to fulfill that will. It also includes the system I USE for getting what I want. Help me not yield to the will or desires of my body, help me not USE the system that James 4:1-3 describes. Help me yield to the will of God, so I will USE the system of the Lord’s Prayer; empower me to ask God for His supply for the meeting of my daily needs and wants.

Jesus, help me take a good look at the thing I am failing at and see if I can see the system coming from my body. Help look and see if there are traits described in James 4:1-3 being used and causing me to make mistakes, sin, and fail at doing what God wants me to do. If I want something that wouldn’t be good for me in the long run, protect me from it. If I am trying to get or accomplish something that would eventually take over my life, empower me to stop pursuing it. Help me let God heal me and take control over the things I want and need. Help me pray this part of this prayer so I can use God’s system.

Jesus, I am willing to start letting God influence me as to what I want and need, so I now pray these words: “Give us today our daily bread.”