Someone has said that Jesus "died on the cross to save us from our sins; he arose and lives within us to save us from ourselves.” We need to be saved from our sins of the past. We also need to be saved from ourselves in the present. We are our own worst enemies. It is from our own lusts and desires that all temptation and sin arise.
In every life there is a spiritual tug of war between good and evil. Every person faces a choice between the pull of right and the pull of wrong. In James 4:15 we are told the tragic results of living by our own lusts and desires and not the will of God.
First, confusion and conflicts will result. At the root of all strife and fighting and confusion in our world, both personal and international, you will find people living for their own selfish desires and lusts. Selfishness produces strife.
Second, prayer effectiveness is hindered. There are two great faults in our prayer life. The first is we don’t pray and the other is we pray the wrong way. Prayer is not intended to be a device for gratifying our selfish desires. It is a means of surrendering to the will of God. The only effective praying is that offered in the spirit: “Thy will be done.”
Third, our fellowship with God is broken. We cannot live both our own selfish desires and the will of God simultaneously. One or the other wins the tug of war. If we live for our desires we lose our friendship with God.
The way to avoid this threefold tragedy in your life is to begin to live for God and to put his will above your own pleasures and desires.