Summary: <br> How many times have you wanted to change and turn from an old bad habit, but ultimately you fail? That repeated failure to change begins eating away at you, robing you of your power and confidence, causing you to settle for less than you were created for and capable of. Romans 7:19 describes it perfectly. It says “I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.”<br> Our willpower is weak at times. Whether it be trying to give up sugar or cigarettes, quit drinking, quit cheating, quit over spending, quit over sleeping, or start working out and start showing up to work on time, our willpower seems to come up short. We know what we should do and we even WANT to do the right thing, but we simply don’t. Not always.<br> Now I hate to admit this because I know what a total powerhouse God created you to be, but sometimes you lack the power to truly change. I know his plans for you are so big they will blow your mind. I know you have all the potential in the world inside of you. But I also know your willpower isn’t going to be enough. Mine isn’t either. You can’t deliver yourself.<br> Romans 7:24 says “Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?”<br> You’re not the only one who struggles. We often hide out convinced every one else has their crap together and we’re some sort of epic failure flawed to the core. Nope, you’re human. We’re all human. We aren’t robots and we aren’t perfect. Our journey to becoming who we were created to be will take our entire lives. If you’re not struggling, it’s because you’ve given up. Join the rest of us who struggle, and let’s continue the fight darn it!<br> We don’t have to sit in misery. We have an answer and it comes in the next verse, Romans 7:25 “Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.”<br> Jesus is your answer. And how many times have we heard that? Yeah, so many times it sounds cheap, so let me dig deeper and be more specific.<br> Have you really asked God to HELP you with the area where you struggle? Have you fully surrendered to him? This is where change really happens … where you surrender to God, ask him for help, and make a true commitment.<br> EXAMPLE 1: You woke up late, you left for work late, you’re surely going to be late. But you’re praying. Oh yes you’re praying, “please Lord let all the lights be green. Let me somehow make it there on time.” Nope. God isn’t interested in magically transporting you to work in record breaking time so you won’t be late, but he would totally be game for helping you get your butt out of bed if you would ask him.<br> EXAMPLE 2: Here’s what we typically do when we’re trying to be healthy and lose weight – It’s Friday morning, weigh in time. We step on the scale and we pray “please Lord, please let it go down. Please, come on God. Let the number be less.” Now why didn’t we pray on Monday morning that God would help us resist the doughnuts in the office? Seriously, why didn’t we ask God for help when it mattered instead of when we’re stepping on the scale?<br> We want God to pull off a miracle without our participation. God doesn’t work that way.<br> How many times have we prayed for God to let us get by with our wrongdoing instead of praying God would help us to STOP our wrong doing? You see, God has zero interest in helping you get by with it, get away with it, or continue life one more day settling for bad habits, sinful decisions, and little life living. In fact, it’s disgusting to him. Why would he want to help you hide it? Why would he want to help you reap the benefits from something you weren’t willing to do? God isn’t interested in your comfort – heR...
