CONCERT OF PRAYER

Pray Week 758

“Discipline Over Desire”

1 Corinthians 9:27 (ESV)  But I discipline my body and keep it under control…

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Is your body a spoiled rotten child?  Do its cravings nag you like a child’s tantrum until you give in?  If you have ever tried going on a diet or entered into a time of fasting and prayer you have probably experienced the ‘wrath of the flesh’.  My wife started a healthy, lifestyle changing eating plan nine weeks ago and I have lost 10 pounds just by being in the same household environment.

One observation made during this time of lifestyle change is how powerful a force our body’s desires are and how tough it is to exercise discipline over our fleshly desires.

…all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world.  – 1 John 2:15

Our bodies crave much more than it needs for proper nutrition and health.  Such ‘junk’ foods are not necessarily bad, immoral, or sinful in and of themselves.  They can even be eaten occasionally and in moderation without undo harm to our bodies.  The core issue is our ability to discipline our body and keep it under control as Paul wrote in our reference Scripture from 1 Corinthians.

Food is only the tip of the iceberg concerning the desires of the flesh.  The crux of the matter is that if we are unable to discipline our body’s desires for junk food, how will we be able to discipline it in its other passions and lusts?

But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.  – James 1:14

An undisciplined lifestyle is poor stewardship over what God has entrusted into our care which includes our bodies.  As born-again Christians we must exercise Spiritual self-control and maintain discipline over all the desires, lusts, and cravings of our bodies.

… walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh …the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality,idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. – Galatians 5:16

As children of God we must approach daily life in this world recognizing that we are only short-term visitors here.  Our citizenship is in Heaven and life in this body is temporary and fleeting when compared to eternity with Jesus.

Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. – 1Peter 2:11

We cannot live a disciplined life in our own strength.  Our bodies will not discipline themselves.  It is only by the power of the indwelling presence of God that we are able to live self-controlled, godly lives.

For the grace of God has appeared …training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age… So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace … – Titus 2:11; 2 Tim 2:22

May you live a disciplined life in the power and grace of God.  May you be able to say as Paul did that you will not be mastered by anything that your flesh desires.

“Everything is permissible for me”—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me”—but I will not be mastered by anything. – 1 Corinthians 6:12

Close in prayer, thanksgiving & dedication of your work to the glory of God.