PRAYER OF CONSECRATION
Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
Jesus, I belong to you.
I lift up my heart to you.
I set my mind on you.
I fix my eyes on you.
I offer my body as a holy and living sacrifice to you.
Jesus, We belong to you.
Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.
Romans 6:5–10 (NIV)
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.
Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
CONSIDER THIS
My life and faith began to change quite dramatically in my early twenties. It began with Romans 6. My daily practice up to that time had been to read a devotion or two in the morning. By “devotion” I mean a short written entry from some periodical or book that began with a nice and encouraging Scripture text followed by a few paragraphs that usually had little to do with the Bible verse at the top. Then came a prayer and some sort of benign thought for the day. I considered that I had done my “quiet time” duty for the day and then got on with it. I’m sure these devotionals helped me in some way but in retrospect, I was really just going through the motions of devotions. (This is largely why I don’t consider the Wake-Up Call devotional literature.)
Somewhere in those years, I actually started reading the Bible. I remember reading Romans 6 and being stopped dead in my tracks. It was this very verse:
For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.
What did he just say?! Did he say I was free from sin? While I presented well to the public, underneath I was plagued by all sorts of sinful thoughts, attitudes, behaviors, and complex patterns of self-justification, shame, pride, and hiding; while fiercely judging others for the same things. After reading Romans 6, I knew one of two things had to be true. Either: 1) The Bible was wrong on this point about being free from sin, or 2) I was not “getting” it—these words did not describe the truth of my actual life.
This became the Matrix-red-pill moment of my life.1 I could not unsee what I had seen in God’s Word. The Holy Spirit had planted this word in my mind as truth and there began the long reckoning with the gospel. Jesus could no longer be an eternal life insurance policy. He would become the source and substance of a transformational life.
This chapter continues to teach and train my mind to the present day. Looking back over the years, I have tended to focus mostly on myself, my behavior, and my willpower even to believe the truth that I am dead to sin. Here’s what’s changing now. I’m starting to get this at a new level:
Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
The focus is not on me and my sin. The focus is on Jesus and his Life. My old sin life is dead and buried in the tomb in Jerusalem. My new life is raised up and caught up in his life.
Yep, everything changed that day and is still changing . . .
THE PRAYER
Our Father, thank you for your son, Jesus, and the comprehensive, compelling change he brings to life. I claim it again now, I am set free from sin. I have been crucified with Christ. I no longer live but Jesus Christ lives in me. Yes, the life I live I live by faith in the Son of God who has loved me and given himself for me.2 Holy Spirit, fill me and make this truth real in my actual life, over and over and over again. Jesus, Jesus, how I trust you; how I’ve proved you over and over. Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, O for grace to trust you more. Praying in Jesus’s name, amen.
THE QUESTION
Do you believe this? That you are dead to sin? That sin has lost its power over your everyday life? That you are free from sin? Are you deeply grappling with the gravity of this truth?
THE HYMN
Today we will continue our hymn festival with the great “All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name.” We will sing verses 1–3. It is hymn 279 in our Seedbed hymnal, Our Great Redeemer’s Praise.
For the Awakening,
J. D. Walt
P.S. What’s next on the Wake-Up Call? Join us for the BIG REVEAL!
Yes, you heard right. Tomorrow (Wednesday) at high noon (central time) we will reveal the next Wake-Up Call series. We will do it on our Wake-Up Call Facebook Group Page, which means it will be available there for later viewing. I am so excited about what’s coming. And I will also be sharing some additional revolutionary breaking news from my own life and calling for your prayers. JOIN US—LINK HERE.
Notes for Further Study and Reflection
- While I can’t in good faith recommend you see the 1999 movie, The Matrix, (violence and profanity) I will say it provides one of the best metaphorical descriptions of the Christian faith I have ever seen in an otherwise secular movie. The “matrix” is the reality (i.e. the world) pulled over your eyes to keep you from seeing the truth. The protagonist, Neo, is presented with the option to leave the matrix. It comes in the form of two pills. Take the blue pill and you go back to your life and nothing changes. Take the red pill and the journey out begins. Neo, of course, took the red pill. In my application of the analogy, Romans 5–8 offers us the proverbial red pill.
- I am loosely quoting Galatians 2:20–21 in the prayer. It just flowed out. This is one of the many advantages of living with Scripture texts over long periods of time, ruminating on them and rememberizing them. (see our Wake-Up Call journal for the meaning of “rememberizing.”) These texts then have a way of flowing out spontaneously and by the Spirit through our prayers. It is part and parcel of the renewal of the mind by the transforming power of the Holy Spirit.
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2 Responses
To fully grasp the truth inherent within this posting requires that I view this present life with the eyes of faith rather than eyes of sight. This type of faith is a gift of God’s grace alone, not a human achievement. One warning about taking the “red pill”; one’s life will become much more complex and stressful, awakened now to see the world as it really is, the curtain has been pulled back. “Lone Ranger “ Christianity is now longer a possibility. One cannot successfully go off into combat as an army of one.
Freedom from sin
Is beyond mere belief.
It is actual inner relief
From the control
Of destructive desires
And their inner fires
That have burned
Deep within us
With rebellion and pride.
That freedom comes
When we finally decide
To humbly surrender our will
And let the risen Jesus
Be our constant inner Guide.