What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death (Rom 7:24)? Jesus, You are teaching me that my body didn’t get saved, justified, and born again. Show me that it currently needs to be dealt with through a process called “sanctification.” Let this process force it to do the right, good, and righteous things. Help me understand that just before I enter God’s Kingdom, my body will experience a process called “glorification.” As I take a quick look at when my human body gets glorified, help me understand how it works.

I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood [my human body] cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable (things that are dying and decaying) inherit the imperishable (things that last forever). Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep (die), but we will all be changed (glorified)--in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable (glorified), and we will be changed (glorified) (1 Cor 15:50-52). Teach me about this moment when my body will be changed into a heavenly body (glorified). In the meantime, help me be able deal with it in a different way through the process of sanctification.

What a wretched man I am: Jesus, help me keep the “want, hate, and delight” I got through salvation, justification, and being born again; help see that they are VITAL. Help me keep feeling the same way as Romans 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.” And, help me keep the attitude described in Romans 7:22 (NIV): “For in my inner being I DELIGHT in God’s law.”

Help me not be one of those who lose the “want, hate, and delight” and lose my relationship with God. Teach me that God doesn’t expect me to be instantly changed at salvation, justification, and being born again; BUT, He does expect me to WANT to be changed, HATE the lack of changes, and DELIGHT in the potential changes from Him. Show me that if He tried to change me without me having the “want, hate, and delight,” He would be going against my God-given free will; and, He is NEVER going to do that.

What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Jesus, I make this my prayer; it is MY indication to God that I WANT His help. It is my invitation to my heavenly Father giving Him permission to help me with my problems. I now say these words with my mouth so they can become my prayer to You, my heavenly Father. It is my invitation to You to help ME with MY body. I am confessing that I have two problems. One: That I am a wretched person. Two: That I am wretched because I have a body of death Here is my prayer: “What a wretched person I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?”

Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin (Rom 7:25). Jesus, help me get ready; because, this is going to be a rapid change in my life. My prayer question is: “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” The answer to my prayer question is: “Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ my Lord!” I am confessing: What a wretched person I am! I am praying: Who will rescue me from this body of death? And, I am believing: Thanks be to God--through You, Jesus Christ my Lord! As I confess, pray, and believe, I am dealing with problems and GETTING solutions that are making major changes in me.

So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. Jesus, teach me that my mind is in my spirit; and, the sinful nature is in my body. And, at this moment, this Biblical passage is describing my current condition. But, my confession with my mouth and belief in my heart has STARTED the change. Teach me that this sanctification process isn’t exactly like salvation; salvation brought me immediate forgiveness to all my past sins. And, it isn’t like justification that brought me immediate forgiveness for all my present and future sins. Show me that sanctification isn’t just an EXPERIENCE that happens LIKE the MOMENT I WAS born again; it is going to be an ongoing PROCESS in my life.

So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. Teach me that this means my body still isn’t cooperating with my spirit and allowing me to treat myself, other people, and God’s plan the right, good, and righteous way. SO, that means I will feel like a hypocrite to myself and look like a hypocrite to those around me. That isn’t good news! It is great that I have a perfect record with God; but, it is easy to see that this current condition isn’t going to give me a good record with myself and others. So, how am I going to be rescued from this body of death?

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death (Rom 8:1-2). Jesus, this sounds like the solution is, as long as I am in my mind a slave to God’s law, it’s okay that I am in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. But, that would mean that, in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I will continue to 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 (Rom 7:22-23). Help me see that this IS my current condition; but, You are helping me get it changed.

Jesus, show me why is it true that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus? Show me that it is because through You the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. I didn’t get set free from condemnation so I would end up feeling like and looking like a hypocrite. Instead, You have given me a “grace period” of no condemnation so I can have access to the power of God. I am set free from the law of sin and death so I can through You be under the law of the Spirit of life. Teach me that the law of the Spirit of life has the power to make my body start obeying me; that is good news.

Jesus, teach me that those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires (Rom 8:5). Help me understand that the first thing you had to do was get my mind set on the desires of the Spirit. This was because the mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace (Rom 8:6). Second, You had to help me allow the Holy Spirit to control my mind. But, help me see that this doesn’t mean I lose my God-given free will; it means that, moment by moment and issue by issue, I will be deciding whether or not I will give Him control. Teach me that the more I give Him control, the more I win over my body.

You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ (Rom 8:9). Jesus, help me discover that the more I allow the Holy Spirit to bring my body under control, the better I will treat myself, other people, and God’s plan. As I experience these successes, it will help me trust the Holy Spirit with me and my body. Help me finally get to the place where I totally trust the Holy Spirit’s control, then I will be ready to move into great victory over my body.

But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness (Rom 8:10). Jesus, I believe in my heart that the “if” in this verse is in fact a “since” for me. So, I confess with my mouth: “SINCE Christ is in me.” Now that I have done that it has MADE IT POSSIBLE for me to say: “My body is dead because of sin, yet my spirit is alive because of righteousness.” So, I now make that confession with my mouth that describes the faith I have in my heart: “My body is dead because of sin, yet my spirit is alive because of righteousness.” This happened to me because I believe that praying Matthew 6:9-13 and obeying Romans 10:8-10 gave me salvation, justification, and being born again; and THAT brought You into me!

And if the Spirit of Him Who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He Who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, Who lives in you (Rom 8:11). Jesus, I believe in my heart that the “if” in this verse is in fact a “since” for me. So, I now confess with my mouth: “SINCE the Spirit of Him Who raised Jesus from the dead is living in me.” Now that I have done that it MADE IT POSSIBLE for me to say: “He Who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to my mortal body through His Spirit, Who lives in me.” So, I now believe this in my heart and confess it with my mouth: “He Who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to my mortal body through His Spirit, Who lives in me.”

Jesus, as You help me look at what to do with this miracle that He Who raised You from the dead will also give life to my mortal body through His Spirit, Who lives in me. Now that I have prayed the necessary prayers from Romans 8:11, it is like the power I experienced when I prayed for salvation, justification, and to be born again. Show me that I now have the power to START making my body do many new spiritual things. Thank You for helping me pray the prayers in my workbook so that I am now able to have this power over my body. Now that I have the power, make me ready to learn how to do this through Your training next week.