Day 12: A Tug of War, Part I

Ephesians 6: 10-12
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

We are all familiar with the game, Tug of War, a test of strength that pits two teams against one another, each at opposite ends of a long, sturdy rope. The goal is for one of the teams to pull so hard in their direction that the other team is forced across a line drawn at the halfway point.

As I was writing this last fall, a vivid memory came to me of when I was a very troubled, lost young women. One evening I was alone in our kitchen and I had an overwhelming sense that there was a conflict—a tug of war— going on over my head, and it was between the devil on one end of the rope and the Lord on the other. I didn’t understand it at the time but came to realize it was a battle for my soul that was taking place in the “heavenly realms.” Thank God, Jesus won that tug of war and my soul was secured when I gave my heart to Him a few days later.

Just as I could sense the tug of war for my soul 48 years ago, you and I may feel this tug of war in our spirit whenever we are tempted to take sides with the devil. Each day we have a choice to make, for which side of the rope we latch onto. Make no mistake, there is a serious battle going on every single day for our heart, soul, mind and body. Since we are all sinners, and our hearts are deceitful (Romans 3:23) we can easily wind up on the evil one’s end of the rope. But the good news is, with this tug of war, no matter how far we have been pulled by the devil’s rope, it is not so far, nor is it too late, to be pulled back by the Lord if we call out for help and repent.

With the election behind us and much strife playing out in our country, I believe we are being called to search our hearts more deeply than ever before we can presume to submit our prayers to the Father. And it begins with personal and national confession of sin and repentance. Today we will focus on personal repentance, and tomorrow *national repentance.

A simple definition of repentance is to make a heart decision to turn from the way we are going and to go the other way, the way that pleases God. It is like doing an about-face, acknowledging that we are sinners, that we need to be saved from sin, and that we will make the decision to set a new course for our lives. If we expect God to listen to the burdens of our heart for ourselves and our nation, through prayer, we must be in right position with Him to be heard. The following is a list of areas, but certainly not an exhaustive list, of which God may be convicting you, even now, and a prayer of confession and repentance:

Lord, you have promised that when I come to you with a sincere heart, out of great need, that you will not cast me out. Open the eyes of my heart, Holy Spirit, to be convicted of any sin that grieves you. Help me to see behaviors and attitudes that need to be changed, so that I would have a heart of repentance. I confess to you now that I have

• lost my First Love—Jesus Christ, and no longer put Him first in my life; forgive me, Lord.
• neglected daily devotion to Bible reading and prayer by allowing busyness or lack of having a committed time each day to spend time with You; forgive me Lord.
• lacked belief or expectation that You will answer my prayers, because You have disappointed me in the past with “no” answers; forgive me Lord.
• ignored promptings from You that I have heard but chosen to ignore; forgive me, Lord
• made decisions and plans without consulting You and then blamed You when they went horribly wrong: forgive me, Lord.
• there have been times when I have said that I trust You, Lord, but then have still gone my own way; forgive me, Lord
• on occasion been greedy for immediate pleasure rather than being content to delay the gratification; a time when self-discipline was required to receive a better blessing; forgive me Lord
• neglected to share the Gospel and no longer care for the spiritual well-being of others, especially those who are lost and don’t have faith in Jesus; forgive me Lord.

This is just the beginning, Lord, for my sins are many. Reveal to me the ones that are ugly that I hesitate to even say out loud: pride, critical spirit, slander, lying, cheating, robbing God, fear, theft, murder in my heart, gossip, adultery, pornography, alcohol abuse, drug abuse, abuse towards my spouse or children, not honoring my parents, coveting that which is not mine to have, gluttony, financial irresponsibility. Forgive me, Lord, I beg.

You promise to make me new, Lord God, to cleanse me from all unrighteousness, for Your name’s sake. Create in me a clean heart. Thank you, Lord, for Your amazing grace. I pray in Your Holy name, Amen.

*national repentance in the sense of sins where we have gone against God’s laws and laws of nature.

~ painting by Peter O’Neill