There are two powerful forces that will impact your life. One impacts your life negatively and one impacts your life positively. These forces are controlled by you and the choices you make. The negative force will destroy your life and future. The positive force will ensure your success in life, both now and forevermore. These two forces are sin and prayer.
Sin is disobedience to God and his word to us, the Bible. The Bible is full of instruction and commandments, but when asked what commandment was the most important, Jesus answered: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:37-39).
Jesus sums up the entire Bible with this great commandment of loving God and loving people. When we are not loving God with our whole being, we are sinning. Any time we do not love others, treating them as we desire to be treated, we are sinning.
Sin is powerful and left unchecked it will destroy us and those around us. It is a powerful force that will impact your life in negative ways.
Prayer is powerful and will impact your life in positive ways. Prayer is not difficult. Prayer is simply having a transparent conversation with God. Notice that I say transparent conversation, meaning that we hide nothing from God. Instead, we talk to him about everything in our life, including our weaknesses and our failures. We cannot hide anything from God, no matter how hard we try. He knows all and it is best that we talk to him about everything.
When we sin, it takes prayer to seek God's forgiveness. The Bible tells us, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).
Friend, if you have sinned, talk to God about it. Own it and don't blame it on others. Confess it to God. He will forgive you and he will cleanse you.
Do you have a besetting sin that controls you? Do you try to change but you keep going back to the same sin? Ask God to fill you full of his Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God's gift to you that will help you with your sin problem.
Take everything to God in prayer. I'm convinced that the more we pray, having transparent conversations with God, the less we will sin. The reverse is also in play. The more casual we are with sin, the less we will pray.
Beloved, let prayer prevail in your life. Make it a priority. As you do, you will get to a point where you are continually talking to God throughout your day. As a result, your day will be blessed.
Know that you are loved,
gaj
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