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There are a few sins in my life that I constantly struggle with. I know that they have a negative effect on my walk with God and on my prayer life. I know this, and yet I continue to struggle.
The one that grieves me the most and wreaks havoc on my effectiveness is anger, along with an unhealthy dose of irritability. My fuse is short. It’s not something I’m proud of. I have written about my struggles with anger several times before, and while there are times of relative victory, I still have a long way to go.
At the end of Week 4 in Becoming a Prayer Warrior, Susan Evans talks about actively fighting sin. The sin she uses as an example from her own life is anger. The person she describes is me.
But there is victory!
I cannot begin to tell you how much joy and relief I already feel by reading this chapter. It is the most simple and biblical approach to the issue I’ve found, and trust me, I’ve read up a lot on anger! There’s personal responsibility, and there’s God’s work in us. There’s faith that He will answer our prayers for transformation. I wonder sometimes if that is the crux of my continued struggle with anger.
The plan of attack suggested doesn’t only apply to anger – it’s about all sin. Personal sin is a significant obstacle in or prayers. It is also a battle ground where earnest prayer is the weapon.
“Even though I still struggle with anger, I am able to re-establish habits of righteousness so that I can have seasons of triumph.”
Susan shares specific ways she battled with anger herself and how God transformed her. However, here is the generalized approach that I gleaned from the chapter.
- Identify the sin problem and the heart issue behind it
- Determine to wage war against it, asking God for wisdom and transformation
- Ask God to bring it to your attention every time you sin
- Ask Him what needs to be done to overcome it
- Draw on the Holy Spirit in the moment when trials and temptations hit
- Practice godly responses
- Persist through setbacks
If Becoming a Prayer Warrior were a paperback book, I’d wear out the pages. This is true especially for this chapter, Actively Fighting Sin. Today I’m waging war against anger in my life, and I cannot wait to see what God has for me in this!
What sin in your life needs to be attacked full on? How might God’s work in this area change your prayer life?
Read the rest of the posts from the Faithful Prayer series!
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by Stephanie, The Multi Taskin' Mom
This Post Has 3 Comments
This is a powerful reminder to me to continually fight sin in my life, and not to lose heart.
I also struggle with anger, Tauna. For me, it’s due to having too high expectations of myself and others, namely my small children. I think what you said about trusting God to transform us and answer our prayer for help in this area is my struggle. I pray continually for help with my anger yet I still struggle with it daily. I need to do what James says and pray and believe that God will answer. My doubts may be what’s hindering me from truly growing in this area and getting rid of the sin of anger in my life.
Your posts in this series have really intrigued me. I’m going to have to get a copy of this book!
The encouraging thing is as you go along the time it takes to realize you’ve gone ‘there’ again and to make course corrections becomes shorter so the chances at not leaving a trail of emotional wreckage among others before bringing myself up short improves, as with any discipline. Praise God that He is so incredibly patient with us and willing to work with our iniquities and to help shore us up if we just remember to lean on Him first. There’s times it’s easy to turn to Him and times I get stupid and start thinking I know how to handle it myself until I smack into a wall, but He’s always faithful.