GOD OF ALL MERCY

God of All Mercy is the first of three prayer songs in a row on Win This War. In other words, it is essentially a prayer set to music. I love prayer songs, because they help me combine prayer and personal worship simultaneously as I connect with the Lord each day. You can memorize these songs and sing them to the Lord by yourself, or you can sing them with a few of the guys in your youth group as you worship and fight the battle for purity together. Watch for prayer songs along the way in life and memorize them. Use them as you hug the Lord in love and worship. He treasures it like little else. And, if you've never sung a prayer song as a group of three with a couple of your friends, you've never experienced something you'll treasure, too.

Busted and bleeding, Paul and Silas sat in prison singing praises and hymns together deep into the night. God treasured that so much that He sent an earthquake to destroy the prison and set Paul and Silas free. Got even the others sitting around them listening in. Sound familiar? You and your friends are sitting busted and bleeding in the prison of sexual sin, and escape may seem as hopeless as it seemed to those in that inner cell of that damp, dark Roman dungeon. Sing. God will free you and the men with you.

After all, our God is the "God of all mercy." He's the "God of all grace." Sure, your heart may seem evil and your eyes are wrought with fear, but He still wants to free you, to hold you and to never let you go. He's "the only pure love" you'll ever know, and the breath of His Spirit and the warmth of His holiness will not only spring you, but dry you up. Your tears-those tears that grown men cry over their sin-will not be, no, not anymore. In Him, there is total freedom. In Him, there is place where the temptations fade and your destiny is free to rock and roll.

You see, sexual purity is your destiny as His Son, as it is His will for your life:

It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God;
1 Thessalonians 4:3-5

Obviously, sexual purity is something you learn, as this verse points out. But you can only learn it as He teaches you and as He cleanses you. The good news is, He has cleansed you and He will cleanse you continually. Remember, you're never alone when you are seeking to have the mind of Christ.

The Friend, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send at my request, will make everything plain to you. He will remind you of all the things I have told you.
John 14:26, MSG

You are never alone as you seek God's face in any way. When you pray "may a breath of Your purity cleanse all my ways," you are praying for the work of the Holy Spirit in your life:

Your Friend has also been referred to as your Comforter, Counselor, Helper, Intercessor and Advocate. I can assure you that He's continually drawn me toward a deeper love and passion for Jesus and my Father. That's the role He plays in your life, too, and you can take it from me: He plays His role perfectly.

I have spent most of my time dwelling upon your responsibilities in the battle for purity in both Every Young Man's Battle and Tactics, and I did that on purpose, because God expects you to play your role well. Having said that, I must make one more thing crystal clear: without the Holy Spirit, you will be nothing buy charred toast on the sexual battlefield. He's more than your good friend. He has real power and an unbelievable connection with you and your Father. Best of all, He doesn't lose and doesn't intend to let you lose, either.
Tactics

You are also praying for change. God's pure love for you is fiery. It is unconditional, unmerited and free. But it is also a two-way street....God is as hungry for your heart as you are for His. And hungry, loving hearts always bring about change.

Out of hunger, I'll sometimes beg, "Lord, give me more of Your love and more of You in my life." I'm sure you've prayed the same thing for the same reasons. You want more of the Lord because you long to be more like Him. You love Him.

But I was mesmerized recently when God turned that request right back around on me. I woke up early one Sunday with the distinct impression that I was to go to the altar during the morning service, no matter what. I sensed it over and over again as I showered, ate my breakfast and parked the van at church.

Sure enough, my pastor opened the altars up for us to come forward to pray during worship that morning, and after he'd prayed with me, I laid down on my face to continue in prayer and to find out why the Lord had been calling me out all morning. Almost immediately, I heard what my Lord had been dying to say. He had just been waiting until we could get alone together at the altar to ask tenderly:

Give me more of your heart....

For weeks I've been seeking the Lord for ever more insight as to what exactly He meant by "more of my heart." I want to know exactly what He desires from me so that I can give it to Him.

I share this story so you'll understand that God is aching for more of you and for more of your heart, in the same way that you are aching for more of Him. When the Lord asks for more of your heart, you need to give it to Him.

What if God were to draw you to the altar and tenderly ask, "Please, give me more of your heart?" In your case, what would God mean by that exactly-what would he be specifically asking you to give Him? Ask the Holy Spirit to show you. For many young men, "more of your heart" often includes "more of your obedience." It means opening more of your heart to willing change, as quick, easy, willing change is a normal, natural outflow of passionate love.

It is easy to see that this is true during the first year of marriage. Some say, If your wife really loves you, she won't try to change you. That's baloney! Love and change must go hand-in-hand if we expect two different people to ever blend together as one. How can it possibly happen without some change when the differences are so great between husbands and wives?

It didn't take but a few days of marriage for Brenda to learn that I always left large pools of water everywhere around the sink and the floor when I cleaned up before work in the morning. That bugged her and kept bugging her until one morning she simply looked me in the eye and said firmly, "Look, I don't care if you want to splash around like a walrus when you're getting ready in the morning. Just wipe up the water before you leave the bathroom."

You might be surprised how many guys would get ticked off by such an interchange. Who does she think she is, my mother? But I didn't feel that way. After all, Brenda had just promised to live with me for the rest of her life, and that was no small promise. The least I could do in return was to dump the stuff that annoyed her so that she could better enjoy our ride of life together. Besides, I somehow knew what all of us must eventually learn, that every time you refuse to make a reasonable change for the sake of love, a wedge of distance will grow in its place.

The same thing was true in my first year of salvation. Whenever the Lord pointed out something that could create a wedge between us, I dumped it. When He pointed out that my music was hurting our relationship, I took all my albums straight to the dumpster. When He pointed out that my drinking fueled my sexual sin, I poured even my beloved Henry Weinhard's beer into the kitchen sink. When He pointed out that watching other people have sex in Hollywood films was putting a wedge between us spiritually, I searched for other things to do at night.

My friend, you love God, and I know you are praying, "Father, cleanse me, whiter than snow. May a breath of Your purity cleanse all my ways!" He will cleanse you, and He is cleansing you. But He is also pointing out the sins that build the wedges between you, and He is also asking you for more of your heart so you'll have that easy willingness to change that all true lovers have for each other.

God's love for you is pure and unconditional, but the bigger question is this one: Is your love for God unconditional? Or, will you love Him only on one condition, that He won't ask you to change so much that you'll look foolish and weird in front of your friends and teammates? Change is part of becoming one with another in a relationship. If you want to be one with Him, you'll need to give Him more of your heart.