To have self-control/self-discipline is something readily sought after, yet rarely attained to its full potential. Year after year we make news years resolutions about the gym, learning an instrument, doing devotionals, business ventures, etc.
What do all of these desires have in common?
What do they all need?
Self-control: the ability to control ones thoughts, feelings, and actions.
To attain self-control, now that is desirable. To be disciplined. To be able to do what you set your mind to. To be able to achieve what your heart desires, your goals.
If we all desire it, why then do we not pray for the spirit of self-control?
Is it that we are afraid of what we will actually accomplish if we do?
Is it that we are too lazy to actually want to get up and run everyday?
Is it that we are so controlled by our flesh, that we won’t actually utter the words for fear it may actually happen?
Is it that we don’t believe that God will answer our prayer?
Mark 11:24 “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
The Holy Spirit resides inside each and every believer of Jesus Christ. If you are baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirt – believing that Jesus Christ died for our sins, rose again three days later, and that He is the Son of God, confessing this with your mouth – you are saved. You have the power of the Holy Spirit inside of you.
Micah 3:8a “But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord.”
I don’t know about you, but I want to take advantage of that power I have residing inside of me. I believe. I am set apart. I am a child of God. I have the power of the Holy Spirit pulsing through my veins.
Galatians 5:23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.”
In my last blog (Self-Control Part One: God Confronting Me About my Sins of Lust and Masterbation) I confessed a struggle I had been fighting with. A sin I had been chained to since childhood, since before I even realized what it was. God freed me from those chains, but I still had to be disciplined enough to keep the chains off. I had to crucify my fleshly desires.
Praying for self-control helped me so drastically with my struggle with lust and masterbation. Praying for self-control didn’t make the thoughts magically disappear, or the desire of my flesh completely subside – but it did give me the power I needed to fight it, and win. Honestly, I am still fighting every single day – but now that I am fighting WITH God instead of in secret, it is tremendously easier.
Seeing how powerful asking for self-control in that one area of my life had been – I decided that I wanted it in all areas of my life. I prayed for the Spirit of self-control this month. I prayed that I would be disciplined and be able to control my thoughts, feelings, and actions.
This whole year God has been teaching me how to be disciplined. He has taught me through my daily bible reading (I just finished reading the entire bible), through learning guitar and practicing almost daily, journaling consistently, and now I am adding running, excercising, and diet to the mix.
2 Timothy 1:7 “for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”
God blessed me with this Spirit of POWER, LOVE, and SELF-CONTROL. Reading my bible daily, practicing guitar; and journaling all took self-control – but I did it in my power, not in His. It was a mental challenge to complete all these tasks every day until they became habit. The struggle to control even these simple tasks showed me how prized having self-discipline really was.
I desire to have the ability to control myself. Yet, I have the Holy Spirit residing in me. I have the power residing inside of me – why am I not tapping into that power?
Why was I not praying for it?
This month has shown me just how powerful the Holy Spirit is. The Holy Spirit isn’t just something we tap into for miracles, we can tap into it daily. The Holy Spirit is what gives us the power to live set apart from the world.
It’s no wonder Christians in today’s society are struggling to live in this world and not be of this world. We haven’t been taking advantage of the gift God has given us. The Holy Spirit is the power that we have over this world, and our flesh.
I encourage you to pray for the Spirit of self-control if you are struggling with temptation of any kind, or if you have the desire to be more disciplined. I also encourage you to pray for the Spirit of love if you are struggling with anger. Read Galations 5:23 again, these fruits of the Spirit are all things we can ask God to impart on us.
We don’t love by forcing ourselves to love, we love by an overflow of love given to us from the Father.
1 John 4:19 “We love because He first loved us.”
It is the same thing with self-control. We don’t gain self-control by constantly fighting with our flesh, we are self-controlled through an overflow from the Father. It is a gift that He gives us, not something we attain through our own power.
I dare you to pray for the Spirit of self-control like I did, it is honestly mind blowing when God answers.
If it is not self-control that you specifically need, I pray that you still tap into the power residing within you. I pray that the power of the Holy Spirit transforms the area of your life you are needing help in, and because of that your faith grows stronger in Christ and your dependence on Him increase. Amen.
Romans 15:13 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”
