One Heart - Power of the WordSample

THE ENEMY WITHIN

“For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person." Mark 7:21-23 ESV

With the fall of Adam, all mankind inherited a sinful nature. But the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ was a gamechanger. God's righteousness demanded His judgment. Jesus' death satisfied God's wrath. And God could now pardon human beings. When a person becomes born-again through faith in Jesus Christ, a seed is planted in His heart (1Joh.3:9-10; Tit.3:2-5). This seed is Christ in you. All believers begin their spiritual lives as new-born babies that need to grow and mature until Christ is formed in them (1Pet.2:1-5; Gal.4:19). The growth of this seed depends on how much undiluted Word of God the person receives in his heart. If the Word is absent, then the seed of Christ becomes dormant, and the evil and flesh rule in the heart. The Word of God is the sword of the Spirit, and it convicts the person, and confronts the evil in the heart. We should be mindful of the battle waging in our hearts (Jam.4:1-3), surrendering ourselves to the work of the Spirit, confess our sins coming from the flesh, and with the Holy Spirit's help, put the evil in our hearts to death (Rom.8:12-14).

PRAYER POINTS

ME: The undiluted milk of the Word of God comes directly from the Bible. Make a decision to daily read the Bible. Don't read just one verse. It is comparable to eating only one bite of bread. Learn to pray from the Bible, using God's own words. Pray the Psalms and other prayers in the Bible. Submit to the Holy Spirit. Ask Him to put a guard at your heart and to convict you immediately of any sinful thought or action.

US: Pray for pastors, preachers, ministers and spiritual leaders in the church. Pray that the undiluted Word of God will have a central place in church services again. Pray that the truth of the Word of God will be the plumbline of church and in the lives of every member in the body of Christ. Pray that the church will once again walk in holiness and reverent fear of the Lord.

THEM: Pray for evangelists and street preachers to bring the Word out of the four walls of the church into the streets. Pray for believers to be bold enough to share the Word of God with their families, colleagues, friends and with strangers in their communities. Ask people if they have a Bible. If they don't, then buy one to give to them.

“The Word of God well understood and faithfully obeyed is the shortest route to spiritual perfection. And we must not select a few favourite passages to the exclusion of others. Nothing less than a whole Bible can make a whole Christian.” – A.W. Tozer