righteousness. Find the phrases that speak to your heart most
clearly in connection with the specific issues you’re struggling
with, and then use them (along with all kinds of other Bible
verses the Spirit will give you) as part of your customized
prayer strategy.
Don’t worry now. This job of overcoming temptation and
living in purity is not something you’re tasked with pulling off
on your own. When God saved you, it was with the
understanding that He’d be providing you “sanctification by
the Spirit” all along the way (2 Thess. 2:13), from the inside out,
His purity and holiness changing your heart until it comes
through as purity and holiness in action. As you yield yourself
to Him in prayer, inviting Him to do His work, it won’t just be
the sweaty, exhausting chore of avoiding sin. It’ll be God
Himself building up strength at your core, enabling you by His
resurrection power to passionately pursue righteousness.
Then go from your prayer closet, ready to “walk in a manner
worthy of the calling with which you have been called” (Eph.
4:1). Strategize your obedience as diligently as the enemy is
strategizing those temptations.
You’ll be blown away with the blessings of purity. So why
not make them the norm rather than the exception?