“But if they do not have self-control, let them marry; for it is better
to marry than to burn with passion.  But
to the married I give instructions, not I, but the Lord, that the wife should
not  leave her husband (but if she does
leave, she must remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and
that the husband should not divorce his wife” (1 Corinthians 7:9-11).

This is not a law or even
instruction against marriage as has been interpreted from time to time.  This is an instruction about asking where
your priorities are and whether or not you are working on self-control.  This is speaking to one of the fruits of the
Spirit which Paul speaks of in Galatians. 
Become one who is self-controlled in all circumstances knowing that this
is from the Lord.

Lord, I live in an age with little self-control.  Help me to reflect Christ and not the world
in my self-control.  Guide me to see that
only in You is there hope for the eternal life that comes through You.  Guide me to become one who is self-controlled
and not tossed about by the winds that blow around me.  Lead me, O Lord, in the way of truth that I
may now and always be guided by You.

Lord Jesus, thank You for the
grace You give.  Lead me this day that I
may see those places where I am tossed about by the chances of life.  Guide me in the ways You know I need to go
that I may be guided by Your goodness. 
Teach me what I need to know and remind me where I am acting like the
old Adam and not like You.  You are the
One who saves, but teach me to do my part in sanctification.  Amen.

“Yet I wish that all men were even as I myself am. However, each man
has his own gift from God, one in this manner, and another in that.  But I say to the unmarried and to widows that
it is good for them if they remain even as I” (1 Corinthians 7:7-8).

What are your priorities?  Are they what the Lord would have of
you?  Look to the Lord and allow Him to
lead your life in the direction it needs to go. 
Be guided in His knowledge of all things and be as He would have you
be.  Live in the grace which is yours and
know that the Lord is leading you where you need to be.  Be content in all circumstances and know that
the Lord has plans for you.

Lord, reveal to me the truth that You know all that is needed.  Guide me according to Your goodness to see
that only in You is there hope for the ages. 
May I have a passion for walking in Your ways and leave behind all
earthly passions that move me away from You. 
Be the One who leads, O Lord.

Lord Jesus, You know all that is
needed and Your grace is sufficient. 
Guide me, O Lord, in the way You know I need to go that I would now and
always walk humbly in the way of Your leading. 
Teach me that all things are lawful, but not all are profitable that I
may live in the freedom You give.  No
matter the relationships in my life, lead me to live in a godly way to the
Father’s pleasure.  Amen.

“Stop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time, so that
you may devote yourselves to prayer, and come together again so that Satan will
not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.  But this I say by way of concession, not of
command” (1 Corinthians 7:5-6).

Listen carefully.  It is by way of concession.  These things are elemental principles that
are to lead us to a place where we see how we are influenced by things
internally that move us to be sinners. 
Equally, we can be motivated by those things which cause us to be
saints.  Be led not by the ways of the
world, but by the way of eternal salvation. 
Know that in the Lord alone is there life.

Lord, help me to get over myself that I would be open to the eternal
principles You have put into place from the beginning.  There is no sin so great that it is not
common to all.  Help me to see clearly
that You will lead me out of the sin within that I may become like Christ who
is our Savior.  Guide me in this path
that I may now and always follow You.

Lord Jesus, You know my turmoil
within.  You know where the storms of my
inner life lie.  Guide me, O Lord, in the
way of truth that I may walk knowing You are alongside, leading me where I need
to go.  Guide me in the way only You can
that I would follow You where You know I need to go.  Let me not live a life of concession, but one
that is obedient to Your direction. 
Amen.

“The husband must fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise also the
wife to her husband.  The wife does not
have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise also the
husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does” (1
Corinthians 7:3-4).

These are elemental things.  This again is not a law.  Look carefully and you will see that we are
not made for ourselves, but for the other. 
Do not live in a self-seeking way, but in the way for which You have
been created.  Know that we are in a
struggle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powerful forces.  Be led by the Lord, and not by anyone else’s
ideas, and know life.

Lord, open my mind and heart that I might live for the truths You have
revealed once for all.  Guide me in Your
goodness that I may now and always abide in the way of life.  Help me to see what is needed and then help
me head in that direction.  Lord, You
alone must lead me in the way I need to go. 
Guide me by Your goodness in the way of salvation.

Lord Jesus, time and again You
demonstrated doing what was needed for the other.  You lived grace and gave to those in
need.  Help me to learn from Your example
that I would not weigh things according to what I can gain, but in terms of how
it would help me to learn to be faithful. 
Guide me, Lord Jesus, this day in the way I should go that I may now and
always live into the will of the Father. 
Amen.

“Now concerning the things about which you wrote, it is good for a man not to touch a woman.  But because of immoralities, each man is to have his own wife, and each woman is to have her own husband” (1 Corinthians 7:1-2).

This is not a law, although some
make it so.  It is a principle of looking
at your behavior and what motivates you to sin. 
The real issue is in seeing things from God’s perspective and then
allowing that insight to govern how you behave. 
What immoralities do you struggle with? 
Are you on guard to make sure what you struggle with does not rule what
you do or how you do it?

Lord, You know where I have issues in my life and you allow them to
remain for a purpose.  Guide me to have
eyes that see and a willing spirit that will work, as You lead, to understand
how there are things in my life that govern how and why I behave the way I
do.  Lead me, O Lord, in the way of life
that I might continue on the path of becoming like Jesus.  Guide me in the way I should go.

Lord Jesus, You know all that is
needed.  You came to fulfil the law and
we need add no others.  Guide me away
from legalism and into a life of faith. 
Lead me to live according to Your Word and no other.  Help me see even amidst these words of
Scripture the truths You have revealed once for all.  Guide me, Lord Jesus, in the salvation You
have prepared that I might walk in Your salvation.  Amen.

“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who
is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?  For you have been bought with a price:
therefore glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

If you are walking with the
Lord, do you not know that the Holy Spirit is in you?  Why do you grieve the Spirit as if you are
walking on your own?  Do not be afraid,
but walk knowing that you never walk alone. 
Be guided by the Holy Spirit which is in you that you may learn how to
walk as Jesus walked.  The Lord is
Sovereign and He will be Sovereign in eternity. 
Live knowing you have been redeemed.

Holy Spirit, You have come that all who walk in Your presence would
grow in the Christ-life.  Take away those
hindrances that cause me to walk by my own power that I might walk instead by
Your leading.  Teach me what is good and
profitable and what hinders my faithful walk by Your leading.  You have created all things for a
purpose.  Teach me from Your inspired
word the purpose for all things.

Lord Jesus, You have given us the example of how to live.  Let me not see these things in a trivial way, nor dismiss them, but live seeking to be like You.  Guide me, O Lord, in the way of truth that I would now and forever abide in Your goodness, mercy and salvation.  Lead me to be faithful in small things so that I may learn how to be faithful in big things.  Lead me today, Jesus, where I need to go.  Amen.

“But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him.  Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man
commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body” (1
Corinthians 6:17-18).

Sin compounds as it goes
inward.  Ultimately, sin ends up tearing
down such that the man becomes nothing. 
Sin seeks to erase the image of God which is in each person.  If this were possible, man would be
nothing.  Pride, the inward sin, destroys
and eternally kills.  Join with the Lord
and be as He would have you be.  Know
that He will make you into the image of Christ.

Lord, teach me the greater things that I would learn to abide in You
knowing that You are abiding in me. 
Guide me according to Your truth that I would walk in Your ways all the
days of my life.  Lead me, O Lord, that I
may be led by You and not by myself or any other.  Guide me according to Your Word to live into
the calling You have given me, for You are the Creator of all life.

Lord Jesus, You have come to lead
the way.  In You alone is the hope of
every human.  Guide me this day in the
upward call You have given me.  Abiding
in me, walk with me each step, teaching me to walk with You each step that I
may learn what You would teach me this day. 
Help me now and always to see through the sin of this world in order to
cling to You alone.  Amen.

“Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then
take away the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it
never be!  Or do you not know that the
one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? For He says, “The
two shall become one flesh” (1 Corinthians 6:15-16).

Through the Lord we are made
family in the body of Christ.  The Lord
intends a tight and everlasting bond.  You
choose your friends, but your family are chosen for you.  This is why the Lord teaches us to pray, “Our
Father.”  The Lord has a reason for why
He does what He does.  He has reasons for
all of His laws.  Come to the Lord and learn
from Him that You may walk in His ways and be His family.

Lord, I make things more difficult than they need to be.  I also do not live as though everything is
Yours and all things are in Your hands. 
Guide me, O Lord, in the way of truth that I may now and always live
according to Your purposes.  Teach me
Your ways, Lord, that I would walk with You now and forever in the way of truth
which You established from the beginning.

Lord Jesus, You know the
struggles I have in this life.  Lead me O
Lord in the way You know I need to go that I would now and always walk with
You.  Abide in me so that I may see in
You those things I need and follow in Your example.  Teach me to become as You lived, knowing that
what I will be shall be revealed, but that I will then be like You.  Amen.

“Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, but God will do
away with both of them. Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord,
and the Lord is for the body.  Now God
has not only raised the Lord, but will also raise us up through His power” (1
Corinthians 6:13-14).

Get your priorities
straight.  We live in a time that accentuates
the physical pleasures, and living for what feels good.  This is not helpful; it is destructive.  When you do not have the right priorities,
you wander and stray.  The Lord comes and
asks you to follow Him, and you will need your full attention to be on
Him.  Come then and learn to not be
distracted by this world.

Lord, help me to clear my mind that I may see the many ways I am attracted
to those things which grab my attention. 
Lead me to learn to meditate and ponder on the greater things.  Guide me in Your goodness to know that in You
is all hope.  May I learn to listen as
You speak, go where you send me, and do what You would have me do.  Lead me in the way of salvation.

Lord Jesus, You alone are the
Savior.  In You alone is there hope.  You have modeled the godly life and called
for me to follow You.  Lead me in the way
I should go that I may now and always abide in Your teaching.  Grant that I would be an example of godly
living, practicing what You give me to do so that others may know that I am
Yours.  Lead me, Lord, wherever You know
I need to go.  Amen.

“Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified,
but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit
of our God. All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable.
All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything” (1
Corinthians 6:11-12).

Notice what is said here.  The law no longer matters: not in the sense
of its condemnation.  All baptized and
walking in forgiveness by the cleansing blood of Jesus are among the
redeemed.  Do not live in the former way,
but into the upward call of the Lord Jesus. 
Learn to become like Him and grow in His likeness.  This is the calling for everyone who walks in
the way of truth.

Lord, I want to make laws out of everything.  I see a pattern and then want to say that
this is the way things are.  Instead,
help me to look to You knowing that You alone know all things and are shaping
the universe according to Your will. 
Lead me, O Lord, in the way of goodness that I would now and always
humbly abide in You as You abide in me, walking ever closer with You into
eternity.

Lord Jesus, You alone have paid
the price for all of my sins.  It really
doesn’t matter that I can’t fully keep the Law as long as I am walking,
abiding, and dwelling in Your forgiveness. 
Lead me today and every day according to Your goodness that I would
humbly abide with You and You with me. 
Lift me up to see more clearly that I would not fall into the traps of
the wicked one, but walk freely with You. 
Amen.