The Relationship between Sin, Studying the Bible, and Praying.
The
Christian race is not a sprint but a marathon. It requires a lot of refueling
in order to make it to the final destination (heaven). It requires a lot of
self-control, righteous living, love, for others, patience. In short, it
requires a lot of Galatians 5:22-23:
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,
peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there
is no law."
The cost
of sin is numerous. Sin separates us from God and His presence. Since sin
causes a separation from God and His presence, it automatically exposes us to
the the reach of the Devil. When we dwell in God's presence, He surrounds us
with a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire. (Exodus 13:21). Dwelling in God's
presence automatically guarantees that we abide under God's shadow.
"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High
shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” Psalm 91:1
I have
come to realize that every time I sin against God, there is a huge void in my
heart. I feel sorrowful and lack peace of mind. It becomes worse when I dwell
in this sin. Often at-times this sins want to become a norm and although I know
what God says about such acts, it just feels difficult to not do them. It is
true that the Bible says God will not let me be tempted beyond what I can bear
(1 Corinthians 10:13) but I fall sometimes to these temptations, even when I
know I shouldn't have. I commit such sins and then feel sorrowful afterwards.
What can I do to overcome this? I ask. I fall once, pick myself up, then I fall
again. Suddenly it wants to be a norm. I know this is not God's plan for me or
any of His child. I know this for sure because His word says "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye
shall be free indeed." (John 8:36)
I then realized that there is an inverse
correlation between praying, studying God's word and committing sins.
I noticed that the time I mostly sinned was when I didn't pray or study God's
word, the bible, the way I ought to. I also noticed that Studying the word of
God a lot can boost one's prayer life. Similarly, praying a lot can cause one's
study of God's word to rise. It is easy to start strong in studying the
word of God and praying but making this a habit and not giving up is what can
be a little challenging. No wonder His word says “men ought to pray and not
faint” (Luke 18:1). In conclusion, I pray that God will grant us all the grace
to not dwell in sin and help us run this race till the end.
“Therefore,
since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off
everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run
with perseverance the race marked out for us” Hebrew 12:1
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