How To Pray For AnyoneSample

GENTLENESS and SELF-CONTROL 

It is so fitting that we are concluding our time together with two of the most foundational and critical components to our faith. Today we are learning to pray through the lens of gentleness and self-control. Nothing about our nature is gentle. We come into this life angry and sinful. Fearful. Our culture has taught us that only the strong survive. We have to fake our strength to get ahead, and then fight some more to save our spot. Our nature is to feed our addictions, our habits, and our own desires—whatever the cost. The problem is that this is the nature of our flesh, not the nature of our faith. The default way of living a life of faith is dying.

It is dying to ourselves. Dying to our sin. Laying down all the reasons we are justified in what we want. It is laying down our desire for security and instead picking up vulnerability, by choice, in the name of Love.

Gentleness and self-control go hand in hand. If we are not constantly relinquishing control over what we want, we will never have the clear vision to see what is best for others. A life following Jesus is not about getting what you want. It's about laying down what you want for what others need.  

The gentleness we have towards others is a direct reflection of the control we have on our own selfishness within—with our time, our resources, and our gifts. If there is evidence of a gentle spirit, it is because we have allowed the cross to “do its deadly work in us” as A. W. Tozer says, putting to death our desires and instead inviting the Spirit to cultivate a heart that is for others. 

There is no better example of this than Jesus. He was never bothered by interruptions, impatient with people, or selfish with His time. He was constantly dying so that others could live, long before that day at Calvary. The greatest evidence of the gratitude we have for what God has done for us is in the way we treat others and pray for others. The evidence we have that the Spirit lives in us is what the Spirit does through us. 

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION:
Who or what is worth it to you today, to extend the extra hand of gentleness? Where is God asking you to lay down your desire for security or control and instead pick up vulnerability? Where is self-control lacking in your life?

A FINAL NOTE...
I am so thankful you went on this journey with me. I pray you have gained new insights about the fruit of the Spirit and what it means for your own lives and how to pray them for others. Keep asking God to cultivate these things in your life, and interceding intentionally on the behalf of others. Every prayer matters.

Please let me know how God has spoken to you over the course of these last few days in the Word together! It is so encouraging to share what God has done, connect with me on social media or through my website (www.rachelsweatt.com).

Once again, thank you so much for trusting me with your time here. It is a JOY to run this race with you all! 

Grace and peace, 
Rachel Sweatt