Gal 2:20 (NIV) I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Jesus, I have been crucified with You and I no longer live: Jesus, teach me that in submitting my life to You, the very first thing that is required of me in The Six Biblical Principles is, I must DESIRE it. Empower me to allow my struggles with spirituality help me DESIRE to submit my life to You. Help me always keep in mind that submitting my life to You got credited to my record with God; but, show me what ACTUALLY submitting my life to You is going to mean to my everyday life. Sometimes I am a very private, independent person, it may take a lot of convincing for me to be WILLING to give up my “normal” life. I appreciate that You forgave me and erased all my past sins, mistakes, failures, and abuses; that is wonderful! AND, You continuing to forgive me for all of them in my present and future, that is awesome! BUT, help me with allowing You to start influencing my everyday typical life; help me not have a problem with it.

Jesus, I have been crucified with You and I no longer live, but You live in me: Sometimes I feel that if You would just take over all those areas where I am messing up and leave alone those things that I feel good about, then I would be more likely to DESIRE to turn my life over to You. But, help me see that, that isn’t what You are asking for. AND, show me that this new way of life is exactly what I need so I can get healed from my difficulties with spirituality. Teach me that You have a NEW life that You are wanting me to trade my old one for.

2 Cor 5:17 (NIV) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! Help me always keep in mind that I have this new life credited to my record with God; and, that made me a born again child of God, a member of God’s family, and a citizen of His eternal Kingdom. But now, help me see that You are wanting to get me ready for my eternal life.

The life I live in the body: Jesus, show me that it is true I am NOW heading into a human life that has less sins, less misdeeds of the body, less mistakes, less failures, and less abuses; but, make it clear to me that, that isn’t all You have to offer. Help me understand that You have me on this planet so I can learn how to live as a child of God in eternity; AND, I won’t learn how unless I allow You to teach me. But, show me that I may not DESIRE to learn about living as a child of God until I find out that this training will help me greatly with my struggles with spirituality.

Jesus, help me not just be willing to take a few classes on the subject; help me not just want to put the major part of my effort on being successful here and now. Teach me that the good news is, that is what You want too. Show me that if I fail at life here, it will typically mean I failed in eternal life as well. Show me how to win at this life; AND, show me how to help others win with me. Teach me that this means that I will only participate in win/win situations for everyone involved.

Jesus, the life I live in the body, I live by faith in You, the Son of God: Help me start living in such a way that I am able to STOP mistreating the people around me. Help me get to the place where I never hurt anyone, abuse them, or mistreat them; but, also empower me to learn how to help them.

Jesus, show me that if I go around ignoring everyone, that would take care of any abuse; but, that would end all relationships as well. Give me a way of life that helps people enjoy me, be my friend, and look to me for helping them have a successful life. Make it clear to me that a connection, dependency, and respect for You will not only take care of the inconsistencies, they will enhance my God and human relationships in a marvelous way.

Jesus, the life I live in the body, I live by faith in You, the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Yourself for me. Help me see that, just like a branch on a grape vine gets its life from the trunk of the grape vine, my CHRISTIAN life only exists in You; You ARE my life.

Jesus, even if this concept takes a lot of help, training, and explaining from You, help me get that training. I have been able to live my human life as an individual. But, help me see that before I was born, I was attached to my mother through an umbilical cord. Show me that if I ever got detached while in my mother’s womb, I would have died. Teach me that, this is the way it is with You from now on until eternity.

Jesus, help me always keep in mind that there are two aspects to my Christian life; by me keeping them in mind, let them help me navigate through the Bible. Help me always realize that on my record with God, I have been crucified with You and I no longer live. But, make it clear to me that as I am going through my day, it is a moment-by-moment, issue-by-issue decision. Help me so that as I face an issue, I WILL decide to NOT do it as my old self; but instead, help me do it the new way with You.

Jesus, help me with the fact that at first, my life will be much more up and down in my day-to-day life. Teach me that, that is because I don’t yet know how to put my dependency on You. In John 15:1-8, You are going to be telling me to REMAIN IN You at least five times. Teach me that during my day I can, if I want to, no longer live and I can, if I want to, allow You to live in me. Show me that this is already true in my record with God; but, it won’t be true all day long; I WILL make mistakes and need more help from You, as I deal with people and life.

Jesus, I have been crucified with You and I no longer live, but You live in me: Before You take me into HOW to go about letting You live in me, help my mind get the proof it needs for being WILLING to let You live in and through me all the time.

Jesus, You illustrate in John 15:1-8 that, as a Christian, my life-success is dependent on Your resources and life-giving supply. It is true I am constantly deciding whether or not to yield to You during my day; but, help me see that I am actually deciding more than that. Help me see that the only way for me to live as a Christian is to remain attached to You. Make it clear to me that if I ever make a permanent decision to stop submitting myself to You, I may go on living as a human; but, I will be dead as a Christian, a child of God, a member of His family, and a citizen of His Kingdom. So, with that important information in mind, help me understand what I need to let happen to me.

John 15:1 (NIV) I am the true vine, and My Father is the gardener. Jesus, show me a grape vine where You are feeding nutrients and power into my life. Teach me that You and the Father are making decisions about my life all day long as you watch my growth. You are the two main Ones Who are influencing my Christian life.

Jesus, help me understand that You and I are like a grape vine. You are the main trunk of the vine and I am one of Your branches. Teach me that all my growth, health, spiritual and physical achievements, and righteous relationships are empowered and fed through You, the vine. Help me see how important my relationship with You is. Show me why I need to ASK for everything. Let this illustration show me why the two tool sets are so important.

John 15:2 (NIV) He (God the Father) cuts off every branch IN ME that bears no fruit, while every branch that DOES bear fruit He PRUNES so that it will be even more fruitful. Jesus, help me see that my relationship with You is dependent on how I respond to Your influence on my life. Make it clear to me that if I, like a healthy grape branch, am totally receptive to the provisions of You, the vine, then I will have all I need to be healthy and succeed in life.

Jesus, help me see that if there are any obstructions or resistances to Your provisions, I will either only produce a long branch and leaves with no fruit; or, I will whither and die. Help me yield to You enough so I will at least produce “some” fruit. Help me see that if I resist on a major level, I won’t produce any. Teach me that if I produce some fruit, I will be pruned by God. If I don’t bear any, I will be removed from You, the Vine. Help me NEVER be removed from You; help me bear a lot of fruit.

Jesus, John 15:3 (NIV) I am already clean because of the word You have spoken to me. Show me that first, I had to experience salvation and justification. Make it clear to me that if I hadn’t been born again, I wouldn’t be connected to You in the first place. But, now since I am, I have a perfect record with God. Teach me that what is going to be evaluated by God next is my relationship with myself and other people. Now that I am connected to You, empower me to allow You to flow into me and transform my relationships with humans. Now that I am connected to You, help me to allow You to empower me and train me.