PRAY IT! Bye Bye Nasty - Romans 7:21-25

I had a rough day on Tuesday.  The "cherry on top" that brought the day to a close was the rather "poetic" moment of breathing in a bug while walking (who does that?!) and then it started raining on me.  There is a children's poem/song/book that came to mind.  It pertains to how there was an old lady that swallowed a fly.  It says,

"I don't know why she swallowed a fly, perhaps she'll die." 

As we continue on in our Romans 7 (check it out in the NLT version: here) passage portion of our dual sermon series (Bye Bye Nasty/Jesus Move), Paul continues to talk about what he has been talking about throughout the entire chapter:  The struggle of sin.  Doing what we do not want to do.  Not doing the good we want to do.  Why do we do that? 
Ahhh, Romans 7...

I don't know why I [insert sin here], perhaps I'll die. 

We know sin yields death and destruction.  It's not cute.  It's not without consequence.  It's ugly.  It's nasty.  It can snowball to bigger and bigger sins and problems and pretty soon we're swallowing spiders and cows and goats... and more ick followed by more.  Sometimes, just like Paul laments throughout Romans 7, we don't even know why we do it.  But we do.  And it's icky.

Our hope is in Jesus.  (See, not much changed from last week - told ya!)

Hope in Jesus 101:

Romans 6:6-8

We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. ⁷ For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. ⁸ And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him.

As we "pray it" this week in preparation for Sunday, let us emphasize praise.  Sometimes, it's difficult.  But it can also be powerful.  You see, because of Jesus, sin can lose its power and we can be set free.  A-W-E-S-O-M-E! 

What if we prayed this week, with very specific, powerful praise, thanking Jesus for setting us free from [whatever fly we swallowed]...?

What if we prayed with bold belief?

A fellow pastor posted a link to an article this week that talked about how a secret prayer life can help prevent a secret sin life.  According to the author, "Prayer makes the heart ready to see sin by making it hate it." (Raymond)

Let us all get with God, in our own private prayer time, and earnestly thank him, both for the freedom and victory we have already experienced, and the freedom and victory we have yet to fully seize hold of.  Need help?  Ask!  It IS the Almighty Maker of the Universe you are talking to, after all.

Then, let us get together in prayer - join us at PoC|Coverage tonight at 6pm! 

Pastor Celia