Step One: A Willing Spirit

Psalm 51: "Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me."

I'm assuming that anyone who wants THAT removed is already under the salvation of God through Christ, which David acknowledges in this beautiful psalm. (And please note that it is HIS salvation, not ours that David is seeking.)

So what does he plead for? A willing spirit. This is the first step in removing whatever "Jericho" or big thing that is in your face. Something that has to come out for victory to be achieved. And whatever IT is really does have to go.

Here's an example why: Towards the end of WWII, the Allies were marching to Germany after the invasion of Normandy on D-Day. They approached a city called Aachen that was heavily fortified - to the point that they decided they would simply side-step it and keep moving forward instead of suffering the high cost of battle. It seemed like a good idea, engulf it and move on - until they found out that their supply lines were constantly under attack by the men of Aachen. The generals got together and made the decision: Aachen had to be destroyed. So at the cost of many lives they attacked and after brutal house-to-house combat they took it out and moved forward.

We try to sidestep deep problems in our lives and hope that we can keep marching forward. But our "supply lines" are under constant attack and we fail repeatedly. These big things, the IT in your life, have to come down or we will be stuck where we are.

Step one: Pray for a "willing spirit" to sustain you as you fight this thing. Pray for a deep desire to actually have victory and to keep pressing forward no matter the situation. A willingness to engage in a sustained battle. Without this desire, we cave in or try to ignore it and suffer defeat.

Philippians 2:12,13 "Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose." As we work out these things, as the IT is attacked and removed, we need to remember that God can actually work in us the will to have it done. Recognizing this changed the way I pray. I now implore God to work in me to will, not just to act - to give me the desire to want to have victory.

"Grant me a willing spirit to sustain me . . . . " as I work out the "Aachen" in my heart.