Fervent Chapter 7 – Your Purity
If I were your enemy, I’d tempt you toward certain sins, making you believe they are basically (even biologically) unavoidable. Because if I can’t separate you from God forever, I can at least set you at odds with Him for the time being. (Fervent p 119)
Your purity, what is that? What are we talking about here when we talk about the enemy attacking our purity? Priscilla talks about it being that enticing temptation that tickles your curiosity, piques your interest and placates your personal proclivities. It is the place of moral compromise, the unhealthy habit, the enticing addictions.
Why is it so important to protect our purity? What if what we are indulging in seems normal? Maybe we think of it as no big deal. Perhaps we feel like it is part of our DNA to have this addiction.
This is a hard place to be honest with ourselves. It is a comfortable place to make excuses. It is entirely the place where many battles have already been lost. Today is the day to come up with a new strategy to fight with. Today is the day the Lord is going to show you how to start winning the battle and today is the day that we start living righteously!
We must start with a confession. We are walking in disobedience in this area, and there is no substitute for clear and simple obedience. We must come to the place in our hearts where we are clear with ourselves that what we are doing is sinful and know that this sin has consequences that will distance us from God, creating a sense of loss, grief, and regret.
We must then repent, yes this is different than a confession. Confessing is an admission, repentance the action of intentionally turning from our sin and living our life differently in this area. This is the place where we are actively obedient. It is in obedience to God that we have intimacy and nearness.
We must admit that our righteousness matters. This is the biggest lie we are contending with from the enemy. He confuses us with the grace of God, making us think that God’s grace is a replacement for obedience. Prayers that have power come from a person in pursuit of righteous living. So starting right now, we need to be pursuing righteous life. It is imperative that our prayers have power if we are going to reclaim this battleground.
God calls you to purity because He wants your heart protected and at rest, inhospitable to the devil and his intentions. Purity leads us to fervent prayer, and fervent prayer leads us to purity. (fervent p126, 127)
Call to Prayer – Victory is going to become an everyday occurrence. We will be fighting alongside the King of Kings. God will equip us with the weapons we need to pursue righteousness. We will be laying down our nastiest, dirtiest sins at the feet of the King where they are subject to His power! Call them out from hiding. Unmask them and make them show their faces. (Fervent p127). Now let’s go to our prayer closets and start claiming the bible verses that speak specifically to our weakness and set our souls on fire to begin proclaiming victory in the land of our fathers.
“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” Romans 6:12-14
“Walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.” Galatians 5:16
“Stand firm, therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness.” Ephesians 6:14
