Lose the War Against Jesus In Prayer

My flesh is at war with the Spirit of Jesus.  If I lose this war, I become who I really want to be:

Galatians 5:16-18 NLT — So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.

My flesh is naturally inclined to self-lead.  I don't have to try to self-lead.  I was made to be God-led, but the fall of man in Genesis 3 corrupted my soul... My mind, will, and emotions... To naturally see self leadership as good.  Man tried to be God, but isn't equipped to be God. That's why the world is so broken.  One diseases, but so many symptoms...

So, I have to go back to being a child.

Just as my flesh is naturally inclined to self-lead, the Spirit is fully willing to lead me back into weakness, so that God can be my strength.  The Spirit is willing and my flesh is weak.

That means: if I just come out of the auto-pilot desire to self-lead, and do the simple asking and receiving of the Spirit's leadership, the Spirit WILL take over from there.

Romans 6:15-19 NLT — Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living. Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you. Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living. Because of the weakness of your human nature, I am using the illustration of slavery to help you understand all this. Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy.

This takes faith. It's narrow, death to my flesh, and few will find it, but it's the difference between Jesus and Peter in Gethsemane. 

Mine it out and you will see the narrow road few find is asking and receiving (prayer by the Spirit) to be changed.

Jesus knew His flesh was misleading Him so He prayed, "not my will but yours, God." Peter had confidence that His good intentions could control His flesh. He found out, tragically, that he was wrong by betraying his best friend, who was also God. He fell away a slave to the flesh. Jesus told him clearly, "your flesh is weak, but the Spirit is willing." He told Him clearly, "God is allowing Satan to sift you, so pray, brother." But Peter trusted that his mind, emotions, and will were working just fine... He erroneously didn't believe his flesh was fighting Jesus, not helping Him, by his confidence in his own love.

Jesus is warning us all to pray.  I don't want confidence in my love for Jesus, I want to do the intentional choice of seeing that confidence is a lie of my slippery heart. If I really loved Him, I would obey Him and pray like my life depended on it, with Him.

Yeshua lives to make continual intercession because I need it. If I really believed him about myself, I would, too.

Hebrews 7:25 NKJV — Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

This is why Samantha and I prophetically pray with others daily: we have learned to see we need it.  We don't pray because the world needs to change, or because we are good at it. We pray because we want to be ready to live with Jesus forever and we aren't.  Everyone who has this hope purifies themselves just as He is pure.

Our flesh is weak, but the Spirit is willing!

Hebrews 10:21-29 NLT — And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. Dear friends, if we deliberately continue sinning after we have received knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice that will cover these sins. There is only the terrible expectation of God’s judgment and the raging fire that will consume his enemies. For anyone who refused to obey the law of Moses was put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Just think how much worse the punishment will be for those who have trampled on the Son of God, and have treated the blood of the covenant, which made us holy, as if it were common and unholy, and have insulted and disdained the Holy Spirit who brings God’s mercy to us.