Reconciliation {Valley of Vision}

This is just an excerpt of the prayer entitled Reconciliation, found in The Valley of Vision (of course).

"Thou hast taught me the necessity of a Mediator, a Messiah,
to be embraced in love with all my heart,
as king to rule me,
as prophet to guide me,
as priest to take away my sin and death,
and this by faith in thy beloved Son who teaches me
not to guide myself,
not to obey myself,
not to try to rule and conquer sin,
but to cleave to the one who will do all for me."

So many times I've found myself trying to mortify (put to death) my sins by trying to just stop doing them. While getting rid of sin is obviously a good and necessary thing, I need to be reminded that on my own strength, I can't do it. I need to cling to God, because He's the only one who can really help me "rule and conquer sin". He was able to defeat sin once and for all, so why do I not come to Him for help whenever I try to get victory over particular sins in my life? This prayer was such a great reminder that I need to depend on Him, not myself.

Also, if you are able, I encourage you to read the rest of the prayer. It's a really good one over all. It contrasts what God does for us with what is our responsibility to do in response. And it is such a good reminder that I am often unable to do things on my own strength and how important it is to ask Him for help in those situations.