Life is War so Pray
I’m reading through the Bible this year following the M’Cheyne plan, and Saturday brought me to 1 Peter 4. I’m reading it in the NLT this year and some things jumped out at me regarding prayer.
When you read verse 1 you are reminded that life is war. Christ suffered physical pain so Peter says, “you must arm yourselves with the same attitude he had, and be ready to suffer too.” The Christian life is war—that is not all that it is, but it is always that! Arm yourself with the Spiritual Armor of Ephesians 6—that takes place in our prayer time.
But then he says, “For if you have physically suffered for Christ, you have finished with sin.” What is Peter talking about? There are a lot of opinions but let me share what I think he is saying. When you are willing to suffer to be holy you make a break from sin. When you are willing to suffer to be holy, sin will lose its hold on you. This comes from time in prayer and time in the word…both lead to desiring God above all else.
Prayer is vital to this…time with Him leads to wanting to be like Him even if we must suffer to do it. It could be something like Peter faced—physical persecution and martyrdom. But it could also be something as simple as turning off a TV, refusing to scroll through Social Media, getting up earlier and going to bed earlier, fasting, or cutting out habits that don’t please Him. All of these carry an element of physical suffering…it’s living our lives remembering the words of John Owen, “Always be killing sin or it will be killing you.”
We will spend a few more days in this chapter looking at how we are to live if we want to be holy, but for now…can you spend time asking God to help you desire to desire to be holy? Can you listen to the Holy Spirit as He shows you things that are not pleasing to Him or conducive to keeping in step with Him? And while you are at it…spend some time praying for the Spiritual Armor to be placed on you as you face a new day.
When you read verse 1 you are reminded that life is war. Christ suffered physical pain so Peter says, “you must arm yourselves with the same attitude he had, and be ready to suffer too.” The Christian life is war—that is not all that it is, but it is always that! Arm yourself with the Spiritual Armor of Ephesians 6—that takes place in our prayer time.
But then he says, “For if you have physically suffered for Christ, you have finished with sin.” What is Peter talking about? There are a lot of opinions but let me share what I think he is saying. When you are willing to suffer to be holy you make a break from sin. When you are willing to suffer to be holy, sin will lose its hold on you. This comes from time in prayer and time in the word…both lead to desiring God above all else.
Prayer is vital to this…time with Him leads to wanting to be like Him even if we must suffer to do it. It could be something like Peter faced—physical persecution and martyrdom. But it could also be something as simple as turning off a TV, refusing to scroll through Social Media, getting up earlier and going to bed earlier, fasting, or cutting out habits that don’t please Him. All of these carry an element of physical suffering…it’s living our lives remembering the words of John Owen, “Always be killing sin or it will be killing you.”
We will spend a few more days in this chapter looking at how we are to live if we want to be holy, but for now…can you spend time asking God to help you desire to desire to be holy? Can you listen to the Holy Spirit as He shows you things that are not pleasing to Him or conducive to keeping in step with Him? And while you are at it…spend some time praying for the Spiritual Armor to be placed on you as you face a new day.
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