Study of Romans: What does it mean to do spiritual battle...?

The conflict within us between the flesh and the spirit is a form of spiritual warfare, and you win much of the battle just by realizing that the struggle exists. Once you realize the struggle does exist, sin is still a powerful force but it can no longer control you unless you allow it to do so.

You are not doomed to failure, and to believe otherwise is to remain in needless, painful bondage. The truth is you can not wander too far, fail too many times, or exceed Christ's forgiveness. When you repent and return to Him, He always restores You to fellowship.

Spiritual warfare is waged in our minds. Are you tired of fighting a losing battle..? Do you secretly feel like a failure...? It's not true. God longs for you to to turn to Him in every spiritual conflict, acknowledge your weakness, and ask for His power to say no to sin. The sooner you learn to rejoice and grow in the reality of your identity in Christ, the sooner you will experience the thrill of victory.

Dear Heavenly Father,

Spiritual warfare has been on my mind constantly lately. I personally feel under attack even as I compose these lines. I feel my family is under attack, too. Lord, right here, right now I ackowledge that I apart from You I am no match for the forces of darkness. I need You Lord. I need Your Holy Armor. Strengthen me Lord. Shield me, Guide me and lead me, my King.

Protect my thoughts, dear Lord. Keep my heart pure. Let me dwell only on good things and dismiss the bad. Help me to be an encourager. Help me to be the leader You have called me to be.

Yes Lord, today my prayer is about me. I normally try to intercede on someone else's behalf every day but this morning I'm focusing on me, first. I'm weak this morning. I'm tired. I'm slow. I'm a little stressed over being behind on my work. But I lay all that at Your feet my King. I know You can sort it all out. I trust in You. I rest in You, Jesus.

And Father I do also pray for a young lady named Vanessa this morning. She will be coming into our home this summer starting this morning to look after Elijah for a few hours each day so Monica can get caught up on her extensive backlog of work. I just lift Vanessa up this morning. I pray that working with us in our house will be a positive, life changing event for her (and Elijah). And I also pray for Monica and lift her up that she can get caught up on her work quickly.

Lord Jesus I pray too for my stepson Connor who will be competing in his school's district tennis tournament today. I just pray that he compete well today. It's not necessarily about winning, but just fighting the good fight, having a good attitude, and not quiting. I pray that in victory or defeat he will be an ambassador for the Kingdom.

Father God, I do Love You. And I want to live my life in honor of You. I give this day to You, Jesus.

And I pray all these things in the power of Your Sweet, Holy Name, Amen.