August 28, 2022 - James 4:7
The Battle – Prayer #14
“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:7 NIV
Lord, one of the hardest things for a self-reliant man to do is to submit control of his life to someone else. Especially someone that is unseen and unknown. But Lord, you are not an unknown essence out there somewhere that is unapproachable. You are not an untouchable God that just demands our submissions like a tyrant treating us as slaves to be owned. You are a loving, just, and approachable God. You have given us free will. You ask for us to submit, but not so that you can control us as slaves, but so that you can help us walk in true freedom. It is in the submission that you work in our lives to make us the best people we can be. It is through submission that we live in your full blessings and favor. It is through submission that we find what freedom really is. When we submit to you, you can set us free from the chains and control that sin has over our lives. Isn’t it just like the devil to lie to us and make us look at submission to you as being something that will limit our freedoms? And all the while blinding us to just how much our “freedom” to choose our own ways and pleasures is really what has us living in bondage and under his control. Lord, we ask that you open our eyes to places in our lives where we have submitted to his bondage.
We praise you that you have already paid the price to set us free. When we asked you to be Lord of our lives you came into us. You gave us the power to overcome the devil. The more we submit to you, the less control Satan has in our lives. We praise you that Satan can only control what we allow him to. Teach us how to walk in your power. Teach us how to use scripture, just like you did, to resist the Devil and break off his bondages. Teach us to live in true freedom.
In Jesus name, amen.
