Jesus, teach me that praying is my way of submitting my soul (human life and body) to You. But, unless I know what to pray, I won’t be able to invite You into my situation. Make it clear to me that my heavenly Father can help me, if I will accept my part in my struggles with spirituality. Teach me that if I am blaming someone else, excusing myself, justifying myself, or getting my friends to tell me it isn’t my fault, God won’t help me. Jesus, work on me first; but, help me see that if I am praying about my struggles with all those around me, I am praying about the wrong things.

Jesus, teach me that as I allow You to show me my part in the struggles I am having with spirituality, that will get me ready to see WHAT IS my problem. Show me where my problem is; help me see that it is MY BODY that is causing me the difficulties I am having with spirituality. Help me understand that as long as my body isn’t submitted to You, IT will keep opening the doors to its animalistic desires, drives, passions, and cravings. I will be driven by selfishness, self-centeredness, and greed.

Jesus, help me examine the Scriptures that tell me how I NEED to look and pray about all of my problems with spirituality. Deal with those problems that are taking place in and around my life, EVEN THOUGH I AM A CHRISTIAN. Help me LET Your Scriptures change my thinking about this struggle. Help me look differently at what I am going through concerning my battle with my body. Sometimes I don’t realize that I am having a battle with my body. Sometimes I am not aware that many of my thoughts and feelings aren’t coming for me, a spirit being. They are coming from my human body that didn’t get saved. Teach me that it still has a SINFUL NATURE that has to be dealt with by You and me.

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, as I submit my body to You, show me that I will start understanding why I don’t seem to be able to live the Christian life like I want to. Empower me to allow You to help me understand my body so I will stop having confusion as to why I don’t have control over my thoughts, feelings, words, and deeds. Help me be keeping in mind that the SINFUL NATURE is in my body, as I let You show me what my body looks like.

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 that these are the things my body wants to do; help me pay close attention to when it gets interested and excited; help me see this pattern in it. Let me understand that I won’t see all of them given in this list; but, I WILL see many of them.

Jesus, as I read this list, sometimes I want to believe that my body isn’t like that. Teach me that if I still have SELF-esteem and SELF-confidence, I will have a hard time seeing the SINFUL NATURE that is ruling and dominating my body. Make it clear to me that You aren’t trying to get me to hate or reject my body. You are trying to help me see how much I need to submit it to You. I CAN’T CONTROL IT! As I go through these next Scriptures with You, help me accept the fact that I cannot win over my body by myself. Show me that I will NEVER have enough determination, will-power, or control over it to win.

Rom 7:16 (NIV) And if I DO what I do not WANT to do, I agree that the law is GOOD. Jesus teach me that the way to treat myself and the people around me is described in the Bible and in my conscience. Help me see that as You, through the Holy Spirit, speak to my conscience and teach me the meaning of the Bible, I am being exposed to how to treat people.

Jesus, help me think about this for a moment: If the world were living according to the Bible, we wouldn’t have all the horrible things happening. Make it clear to me that God IS Who I need Him to be; He lives by the principles I need to live by; He is insisting on those things I desperately need to obey. Help me understand that EVERYTHING God lists as sins, are deadly; THEY WILL IN FACT destroy me and the people around me. It may take a little time for them to do it; but, they WILL destroy me and others. Help me realize that my body DOES have the SINFUL NATURE in it; I DO need to learn how to submit it to You. But, show me that there are some things I need to pray about so I can do that.

Prov 14:12 (NIV) There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. Jesus, teach me that prior to salvation, I was doing sins that hurt me and those around me; and, I WANTED to do them. Help me see that even though the Holy Spirit was making me feel guilty about them, I still enjoyed the pleasures sin generated in my body; and, I would have preferred to not feel guilty about those sins. But, God knew that all of these sins were going to lead me into a life that would produce struggles, difficulties, and problems with spirituality. But, show me that at that point I WAS NOT willing to start praying against these sins I was committing.

Jesus, I do not understand what I do. For what I WANT to do I do not do, but what I HATE I do (Rom 7:15). Make it clear to me that when I accepted You as my Savior, Lord, and King, I became a CHRISTIAN who had all kinds of habits, addictions, shortcomings, failures, difficulties, and problems. Show me that I, as a Christian, also had all kinds of plans, goals, philosophies, training, skills, and attitudes that were going to keep heading me into more difficult issues. Take me through the step-by-step procedures for making changes that are vital. Since my entire life has been spent learning human ways of satisfying my body and making it and me happy, help me devote the rest of my life learning and being transformed by You. Help me see that a lot of those things I was learning from the world were leading me into major problems.

Jesus, what I do is not the good I WANT to do; no, the evil I DO NOT WANT to do--this I keep on doing (Rom 7:19). Teach me that the big difference between me before You and I as a new or untrained CHRISTIAN is that I am doing these SAME things but starting to DISAGREE with them. Make it very clear to me that this is a miraculous moment in my life. Teach me that this is where God has been wanting to take mankind since the fall of Adam and Eve. Help me understand that I, as Christians, now have a MIND that is in agreement with the laws and principles of God. But, also help me see that I have a body that isn’t in agreement with the laws and principles of God. But, teach me that as a new or untrained Christian, I can want to pray for the right things; but, I often don’t know what they are.

Jesus, once again, I do not understand what I do. For what I WANT to do I do not do, but what I HATE I do (Rom 7:15). Teach me that now that I have a mind that is ready to see my life change, I stand ready to find out how to get what I NOW want. Show me that everything is in place ready for me to start spiritual growth; everything is ready for me to learn how to win against the problems I am having with spirituality. But, help me see that sometimes I STILL don’t realize that it is my body that is keeping me from living The Victorious Christian Life.

Jesus, this is my prayer: “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death (Rom 7:24)?” Teach me that this is a prayer that addresses my real problem. Show me that I must pray prayers that are based on how things really are. Help me see that if I haven’t come to the place where I DESIRE to know how things really are, I will remain in my problems and difficulties. If I haven’t STUDIED the Bible and found out how things really work, I will stay where I am. And, if I don’t or can’t pray prayers that address the way things really work, I won’t get God’s help.

Jesus, I am NOT happy with all the problems I am having with spirituality. Teach me that, THAT is what God is looking for; I am NOT satisfied with the way my life has been going; teach me that, that is the attitude of a TRUE Christian. You, the Holy Spirit, and the Bible are showing me a better way to live life and it is giving me a dissatisfaction. Teach me that, that is a VITAL stage in my new or untrained Christian life. Now, Jesus, teach me what I should do with this dissatisfaction. Help me NOT let it discourage me and cause me to quit. Help me NOT get mad at God because He doesn’t seem to be answering my prayer. Help me keep deciding to get involved with You and let You train and empower me to “do what it takes” to get The Victorious Christian Life.

Jesus, teach me that 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). Help me accept the fact that God isn’t upset with me; He isn’t mad at me for not being able to solve all my problems with spirituality or any other problems I am having. Help me open the door to my heart and BELIEVE that my heavenly Father accepts me just like I am NOW. Help me understand that He isn’t going to leave me like I am; but, it is going to take time for me to get healed. Since it took me a long time to get myself into these problems, help me be patient and let You undo, un-train, heal, transform, and retrain me in Your ways.

Jesus, 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 (Rom 7:18). Teach me that I have a body that I am living in; it is MY body. Help me see that just like I can’t go around hitting people with my car and then claim it wasn’t me, it was my car. Teach me that I have an obligation--but it is not to the SINFUL NATURE, to live according to it (Rom 8:12). Teach me that there are some prayers I am going to have to pray so as to get God’s help with MY body.

Jesus, 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 (Rom 7:20). Help me NOT be separated from my body and then deny all responsibility for what it does. But also, help me NOT go the other way and keep accepting it as me; if I do that, then it will keep defeating me. Show me that one reason God isn’t disappointed or upset with me is because I am NOT the one who is causing all these problems in my life ANYMORE. Help me see that He knows my body has dominance over me; He knows I need You, the Holy Spirit, and the Bible to train and empower me to win over my body. Teach me that, that is why He gave me the clean record with Him. He wants me to take advantage of that clean record and get His help with my body.

Jesus, I find this LAW at work: When I WANT to do good, evil is right there with me (Rom 7:21). Teach me how evil is right there with me. Show me that the SINFUL NATURE in my body is right there with me. Help me understand that before salvation, me and my body were on the same page. The only reason I didn’t go out and live like an animal, during that time, is because God gave me a conscience. My conscience was and is the Holy Spirit’s door of communication with me. HE made me feel bad about anything animalistic. My body’s sex drives, survival instincts, selfishness, and desires for importance and value were limited by my conscience.

Jesus, teach me that if I live according to the SINFUL NATURE, I will die; but if BY the Spirit I put to death the misdeeds of the body, I will live (Rom 8:13). Make it clearto me that as a new or untrained Christian, I am having difficulties with spirituality because I haven’t yet learned how to put to death the misdeeds of my body. Help me see that my body still has the training, habits, desires, philosophies, and weaknesses it had prior to salvation; but, show me that God sees me and my body as being two different entities. Since this is the way God sees it, then help me see it that way too.

Rom 7:13 (NIV) Did that which is good (Jesus’ law), then, become death to me? By no means! But in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it (Jesus’ law) produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment, sin might become utterly sinful. Jesus, help me see that I CANNOT ignore all the fun, pleasure, happiness, and satisfaction my body gave me. If I think that life with Jesus will end all this fun, then I WILL NOT DESIRE to win over my body. Show me that I will fail the very first step in The Six Biblical Principles. Make it clear to me that You have plans me and my body that will be very fun, have wonderful pleasure, will give me something superior to happiness, and will satisfy me in ways I never imagined.

Mat 7:4 (NIV) How can you say to your brother, “Let me take the speck out of your eye,” when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? Jesus, help me see that I may not see this issue concerning my body as being all that important. I may not care about where my problems with spirituality are coming from; I may not even see my problems as coming from me at all. I may be blaming someone else for all my problems; but, as You pointed out before, I am always a participant in how I got into these problems in the first place. Show me that it is vital that I accept my part in getting into this condition.