"Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." Rom. 8:37
Suggested Format for the Prayer Time
Praise (approximately 10 minutes)
- Begin your prayer time by praising God for who He is (His character). Praise Him for His faithfulness and that He is a refuge.
- Praise God that all you have to do is abide in Christ if you want to have victory over sin.
- Praise God that Jesus obtained the victory over sin at the cross.
Confession and Claiming Victory Over Sin (approximately 5 minutes)
- Ask God to show you the sins you need to confess openly and the ones you need to confess privately. Claim His victory over those sins.
- Have there been times when you did not feel that you wanted to conquer sin? Ask God for forgiveness. Ask Him to put in your heart the desire to overcome sin.
- Ask God for forgiveness that we, as a church, have still not overcome sin.
- Thank God that He forgives you according to 1 John 1:9.
Supplication and Intercession (approximately 35 minutes)
- Pray that God will give you the desire to overcome sin.
- Pray for family members and friends who also need to gain victory over sin.
- Pray for those areas in your life where you still need to gain victory over sin. Ask Him to give you complete victory.
- Ask God to help you believe that He can give you complete victory over sin.
- Do you still cherish any idols in your life? Bring them before God and ask Him to put hatred in your heart for those things.
- Pray that church leaders (your local pastor, conference, union, division, and General Conference leaders) will let God give them victory over sin.
- Pray that God will make you humble so you can see your weaknesses and ask for power to overcome them.
- Pray for the comprehensive evangelistic plans and outreach activities of all thirteen divisions and attached union (Middle East and North Africa Union). Pray for success in "Mission to the Cities" and in reaching rural areas.
- Mission to the Cities—Pray for the South American Division and the 74 cities on which they have chosen to concentrate their outreach. Pray also for the South Pacific Division and the cities they have chosen to reach for Christ: Sydney, Christchurch, Lae, Apia. Pray that God will send workers and that He will bless their efforts.
- Pray that God will continue to lead His church and give its members victory over sin.
- Pray that the seven (or more) people on your list will see their need and open their hearts for the Holy Spirit.
- Pray for any personal needs you have (Prov. 3:5, 6).
Thanksgiving (approximately 10 minutes)
- Thank God that He is willing to give you His righteousness.
- Thank God that He is the One "which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure" (Phil. 2:13).
- Thank God for Jesus' sinless life and that He showed us how we can be overcomers.
- Thank God that He is answering the prayers you prayed according to His will.
Suggested Songs to Sing
"Not I, but Christ" (SDA Hymnal #570); "Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior" (SDA Hymnal #569); "Power in the Blood" (SDA Hymnal #294); "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus" (SDA Hymnal #290); "Jesus, I Come" (SDA Hymnal #292); "Rock of Ages" (SDA Hymnal #300); "Burdens Are Lifted at Calvary" (SDA Hymnal #476).
More Than Conquerors
"Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." Rom. 8:37
In their conflicts with Satan, the human family has all the help that Christ had. They need not be overcome. They may be more than conquerors through Him who has loved them and given His life for them. . . . The Son of God in His humanity wrestled with the very same fierce, apparently overwhelming, temptations that assail us—temptations to indulgence of appetite, to presumptuous venturing where God has not led them, and to the worship of the god of this world, to sacrifice an eternity of bliss for the fascinating pleasures of this life. Everyone will be tempted, but the Word declares that we shall not be tempted above our ability to bear. We may resist and defeat the wily foe. (Christ Triumphant, p. 195)
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. (1 Cor. 10:13, KJV)
The life-work given to us is that of preparation for the life eternal, and if we accomplish this work as God has designed that we should, every temptation may work for our advance; for as we resist its allurement, we make progress in the divine life. In the heat of the conflict, while engaged in earnest spiritual warfare, unseen agencies are by our side, commissioned of heaven to aid us in our wrestlings, and in the crisis, strength and firmness and energy are imparted to us, and we have more than mortal power. But unless the human agent shall bring his will into harmony with the will of God, unless he shall forsake every idol, and overcome every wrong practice, he will never succeed in the warfare; but will be finally overcome. Those who would be conquerors must engage in conflict with unseen agencies; inward corruption must be overcome, and every thought must be brought into harmony with, and subjection to, Christ. The Holy Spirit is ever at work seeking to purify, refine, and discipline the souls of men in order that they may become fitted for the society of saints and angels, and as overcomers be able to sing the song of redemption, ascribing glory and honor to God and to the Lamb in the courts above. (Christian Education, pp. 122, 123)
We have no enemy without that we need to fear. Our great conflict is with unconsecrated self. When we conquer self, we are more than conquerors through Him who has loved us. My brethren, there is eternal life for us to win. Let us fight the good fight of faith. Not in the future, but now, is our probation. (Counsels on Stewardship, pp. 21, 22)
But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. (Heb. 13:16, KJV)
Living the life of the Saviour, overcoming every selfish desire, fulfilling bravely and cheerfully our duty to God and to those around us—this makes us more than conquerors. This prepares us to stand before the great white throne free from spot or wrinkle, having washed our robes of character, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. (Reflecting Christ, p. 37)
The controlling power of appetite will prove the ruin of thousands, when, if they had conquered on this point, they would have had moral power to gain the victory over every other temptation of Satan. But those who are slaves to appetite will fail in perfecting Christian character. The continual transgression of man for six thousand years has brought sickness, pain, and death as its fruits. And as we near the close of time, Satan's temptation to indulge appetite will be more powerful and more difficult to overcome. (Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 59)
My brethren, let us put all this aside. We have no right to keep our minds stayed on ourselves, our preferences, and our fancies. We are not to seek to maintain a peculiar identity of our own, a personality, an individuality, which will separate us from our fellow laborers. We have a character to maintain, but it is the character of Christ. Having the character of Christ, we can carry on the work of God together. The Christ in us will meet the Christ in our brethren, and the Holy Spirit will give that union of heart and action which testifies to the world that we are children of God. May the Lord help us to die to self and be born again, that Christ may live in us, a living, active principle, a power that will keep us holy. (Testimonies for the Church, vol. 9, pp. 187, 188)
Questions for Personal Reflection
1. What are the greatest battles in your life? Over what things do you want to have victory?
2. What is hindering you from being "more than conqueror"? Surrender those things to God.
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Sunday, January 10, 2016
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