Envy and jealousy will kill a stupid fool. – Job 5:2
For me, it strikes most often at Target and the grocery store.
Baby-envy.
Wrestle with infertility for any amount of time and you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.
I find that it comes in two forms. The first comes when I see women who I consider to be “unworthy” of motherhood:
The girl who can’t be older than 15 pushing a stroller with one hand and patting her pregnant belly with the other.
The mom who screams at her toddler to stop crying after she trips and falls.
The second form comes when I see someone who appears to have the life I want:
The gorgeous woman who calmly walks the store aisles, sipping Starbucks while her peaceful baby sleeps quietly.
The couple walking hand-in-hand down the baby aisle, aiming the gift registry guns at cute little outfits.
At best, it will put you in a terrible, pessimistic mood. At worst, it can destroy relationships and leave you with a wounded soul.
Whenever I sense these feelings of jealousy and envy swelling up inside me, I have to make a choice. I can give into them and ruminate on them, lamenting how terrible my situation is and throwing a major pity party.
Or, I can acknowledge my sadness surrounding my own circumstances, thank God for the lives of the families I encounter, and pray against being consumed by jealousy and envy.
Sometimes I can do this in a few seconds or minutes. Sometimes it takes much longer. But it won’t happen naturally. I must choose to fight my jealousy with prayer.
During your prayer time today, ask the Lord to help you resist the temptation to wallow in jealousy and envy.
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You know there are some that say if someone is jealous of you then you must be doing something good or you’re going places. The reason people look at this emotion so nonchalantly is that they think of it as something that will pass and that jealousy stands all by itself.
This is so very far from the truth because the spirit of Jealousy NEVER travels alone. You will see it first but what follows are many other spirits which are incredibly diabolical.
We’re going to show you just how dangerous this is and then give you some prayers to pray if you are struggling with this spirit as well as prayers to pray if others are jealous of you.
Jealousy is not something to take lightly. This is a very dangerous spirit. It is not cute or something that you should brush off. You should take it seriously.
When someone is jealous, they are jealous for:
someone elses’ possessions, wealth, assets – (greed, coveting), position, placement, job, advancement, other’s authority, power, leadership, recognition, praise, prestige, abilities, talents, skills, accomplishments, achievements, success, intelligence, logic, knowledge, personality, social standing, relationships, communication, intimacy, marriage, loyalties, devotion, attachments, other’s age, youth, maturity, experience, looks, appearance, beauty, health, other’s clothes, style, sophistication, other’s opportunities, privileges, advantages, good fortune.
People can even be jealous of your spiritual gifts.
The bottom line is this spirit is insatiable. Also, this spirit has no boundaries with age. Grown married women, even mothers, can be jealous of orphaned children if they have one thing more that what these womens’ children have. The spirit has no boundaries or limits. It just wants what someone else has. It has no regard for what anyone had to go through to gain what they have, it just wants it.
One of the main things that you need to understand about the spirit of jealousy is that it travels with other spirits. These spirits show up afterwards if we allow jealousy to continue unchecked within us or around us. If you have a spirit of jealousy, here are the other spirits that will follow it and how they will manifest themselves in your life:
- Murder – literally wanting to get rid of the person so that you can get what they have. Evil thoughts that something bad will happen to that person.
- Strife – constant tension between you and that person and everyone else around.
- Greed/Lust – insatiable desire to have what the other person has even though if you were to stop and think about it you have more than they do.
- Envy – you want what others have without having any legal, biblical or covenantal claim to it.
- Destruction – constantly speaking evil of the focus of your jealousy, hoping secretly that what they have comes to nothing. If you can’t get it then they shouldn’t have it either.
- Competition – trying to compete to show them and others that you are better and deserve what they have.
- Selfish Ambition – doing things not out of a love for God and others but to get attention so that everyone looks at you and not the person you are jealous of.
- Anger – this spirit is usually hidden and comes in the form of outburst against the focus of your jealousy
- Division – you start to form teams of people around you who will agree with and justify your feelings so that you can all gang up against this person
- Slander – speaking half truths or complete lies in an attempt to discredit the person or damage their character
- Striving – working like crazy out of the flesh instead of an anointing. This will mean that you have to work twice as hard to do what they are doing.
Let’s look at a few of instances in the bible of jealousy.
1. Adam and Eve
The first one recorded was Eve who took the fruit that God told her was forbidden and ate it as well as gave it to her husband Adam. (Genesis 3) Why did they do this? Because they wanted to be like God. They wanted His power. They were envious. They were also greedy because it wasn’t enough that they had communion with God that they could speak to Him face to face. It wasn’t enough that they had all provision. It wasn’t enough that they lived in perfection. They didn’t have to work for anything it was all given to them.
Jealousy will cause you to lose sight of the blessings that you already have and focus on the smallest of things that you don’t have.
2. Cain
You can read the entire story of Cain’s jealousy in Genesis 4
Genesis 4 (NIV)
Cain and Abel
4 Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. 3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. 4 And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.
6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”
8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”
“I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
10 The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. 11 Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”
16 So Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
17 Cain made love to his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was then building a city, and he named it after his son Enoch. 18 To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad was the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael was the father of Methushael, and Methushael was the father of Lamech.
19 Lamech married two women, one named Adah and the other Zillah. 20 Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock. 21 His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all who play stringed instruments and pipes. 22 Zillah also had a son, Tubal-Cain, who forged all kinds of tools out of bronze and iron. Tubal-Cain’s sister was Naamah.
23 Lamech said to his wives,
“Adah and Zillah, listen to me;
wives of Lamech, hear my words. I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for injuring me.
24If Cain is avenged seven times,
then Lamech seventy-seven times.”
Jealousy removes you from under the blessing of God and when not put in check you can pass this on to your generation.
3. Joseph’s brothers
You can read the entire story in Genesis 37-38. We know that Joseph’s father gave him a colorful coat because he favored him over his brothers. We also know that Joseph had a dream where God showed him that he would be a great leader. When Joseph shared the dream with his brothers they became jealous and intended to kill him. Even in the midst of all the adversity and opposition that Joseph had he was still able to fulfill everything that God said he would. His brothers on the other hand suffered under the famine because they were put under a curse. In the end, the brother that they tried to kill became their salvation and they ended up serving him.
When we aim our jealousy at someone we may delay their blessing but we will never stop it. We put ourselves under a curse and forfeit our own blessing.
Let’s look at how we defeat the spirit of jealousy using Joseph as an example:
- Joseph extended forgiveness to his brothers
- Joseph blessed his brothers through his kind words and through his actions by helping them even after what they did to him
- He gave God all glory in that he said what they meant for harm God turned it to good
- He was not prideful in his accomplishments.
Why is Jealousy so offensive to God?
- When we are jealous of others what we are saying to God is that He hasn’t blessed us with anything
- When we are jealous of others we are telling God that HE is not enough for us
- When we are jealous we lose sight that God has blessed us with things that He hasn’t blessed others with. Remember we don’t all have the same blessings. You are blessed in ways that were specifically designed by God just for you. Please reflect on this point. Cain lost sight of the fact that he had a special blessing from God which was that of being the first born child.
What blessings are you not seeing because you may be jealous of what someone else has?
Consequences from God for Harboring a jealous spirit
- You put yourself under a curse
- God puts you away from him and you forfeit your blessing until you repent
- You will pass that murderous jealous spirit unto your children. Jealousy begets jealousy (Genesis 4:24). What’s even more frightening is based on the story of Cain, his desendant Lamech turned out to be even more cruel that he was.
The bottom line is absolutely no blessing comes your way when you are under the power of the spirit of jealousy.
God is a Jealous God
Now you may have heard that God is a jealous God, and He is!
So, what is the difference? The motivation and driving force behind God’s jealousy is very much different from us mere humans.
Exodus 34:14 (KJV) “For thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:”
God has a right to be jealous because we belong to him. We are in a covenant relationship with him.
Joshua 24:19 (KJV) “And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the Lord: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.”
We provoke God to jealousy when we practice idolatry and serve other gods.
In Zechariah 1:14, God again says that he is a jealous God but in verse 16 he says that he will restore us. God’s jealousy leads us to restoration of true worship
This concept is also brought out in context of the last days in Joel 2:18: “the Lord will be jealous for his land and take pity on his people.” It is also used to describe a man’s jealousy for his wife ( Numbers 5:14-30 ) and God’s passionate anger against sin ( 1 Kings 14:22 ; Psalm 78:58 ).
So we see that Jealousy is an emotion of one taking ownership over another. God is Jealous of his people because he owns us. We are in a covenant relationship with him. A husband and wife can be jealous when the other strays because the two have become one. They are in a covenant relationship with each other.
When we are jealous of others’ success and of what others have, of someone else’s spouse then we are acting out an emotion which is destructive. Since we don’t own them or have a biblical covenant relationship with them we are not suppose to feel that jealousy. This would be an emotion of the flesh which then opens you up to more dangerous diabolical spirits.
God’s fruit of His jealousy for his people is to restore them to worship Him. It is not to harm but to heal and restore. This is the main difference between God’s jealousy for us and the sinful human jealousy which has no good fruit.
So what do you do if you realize that you have a jealous spirit?
- You repent. Ask God to forgive you for feeling the way that you do.
- Tell your mind, body and spirit that you are renouncing any association to that spirit or any of the other spirits that comes along with it.
Prayer for people struggling with a Jealous Spirit
Father God, now that I know how dangerous this spirit is I repent of it. I ask you to remove this from me along with all the other spirits that travel with it. I would never want to be lumped in with Cain or Joseph’s brothers because nothing good came of their lives. You will never bless me for this behavior so remove this spirit from my midst. Let me never be comfortable feeling this way. Give me a heart that rejoices when others are blessed and mourns when others are suffering instead of glorying in it. God wash and cleanse my mind, heart and spirit and purify me from this unrighteousness. Move me from under the curse and put me in a place to receive your blessing. Remove any generational curses that may have been passed down to me from my forefathers. Cut off this spirit from being passed down to my children. Forgive me for not appreciating all the blessing I currently have. Help me to be content with what you have given me today knowing that even more blessings that you have for me is on the way. I trust that today I am free from this and I look to the blessing of your Holy Spirit to fulfill all my needs and desires, in Jesus Name, Amen.
Praying against Jealousy
Commander of heaven’s armies, I call upon you today to remove from me every spirit and principality of jealousy. Send forth your warring angels to remove every diabolical spirit that comes with this spirit such as the spirit of murder, envy, strife, selfish ambition, slander, destruction, greed, lust, competition, anger and division. These spirits shall have no part in me, my family, my generation, my inheritance, my finances, the ministry you have given me or the future you have planned for me. Banish them from coming into my presence or from attacking any path that you have laid before me. Remove the obstacles they have placed in my path. Restore that which was stolen. Heal any woundedness. Restore any damage they have done to my credibility. Any door that You have opened Lord no man can close and that which you have closed no man can open. Any door that I have left open to allow these in please show them to me and close them never to be open again. Any associations that I may have with others from the past whether in or outside of the family of God close those doors for good and don’t allow those spirits to ever have access to my life again. I break every unholy covenant that I have made with them. I cut every soul tie to my past which may have given these spirits access to my future life. I speak blessings over those who tried to curse me. Cause them to see the blessings that you have already bistowed upon them. Show them the path you have for them and give them the grace to move on in the path you have established for them. I pray that my speech would be seasoned with grace and I would not be prideful when I give you glory in how you’ve blessed me. In Jesus Name, Amen.
We hope you see how serious this is and that you can come back at any time that you feel the need to reread these points and pray the prayers.
Here are some Bible Verses About Jealousy and some that you can meditate on if you are trying to overcome a Spirit of Jealousy.
Here are some other prayers for you
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Proverbs 27:4 NIV “Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy?”
Father, Your word describes jealousy as more than cruelty and overwhelming fury. Father remove from me any of the components of jealousy, or the covetousness, hatred, fear and insecurity that fuel it !
I renounce all jealousy and fear and insecurity and pray You will uncover any of the root causes in my past that would keep me walking in unholy Jealousy towards others. I want to be holy as YOU are holy Father. Remove from my heart all cruelty and any murderous attitudes that accompany jealousy !
Psalm 78:58 NIV “They angered him with their high places; they aroused His jealousy with their idols.”
Psalm 79:5 NIV “How long, O LORD? Will you be angry forever? How long will your jealousy burn like fire?”
Father, even as You are jealous over us, help me to be jealous for My time with You. It is only in Your presence that I can be healed from the ungodly kind of jealousy that eats away at my spiritual attitudes. Fill me with Your LOVE and KINDNESS, that I may love others as You love them Lord!
Proverbs 6:34-35 NIV “…for jealousy arouses a husband’s fury, and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge. He will not accept any compensation; he will refuse the bribe, however great it is.”
Zephaniah 1:18 NIV “Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of the LORD’s wrath. In the fire of his jealousy the whole world will be consumed, for he will make a sudden end of all who live in the earth.”
Thank You Father, that you are jealous like this over ME! Help me to remember that YOU love me so much, that I do not need to defend myself for YOU are my Defender! Help me to remember how Your love is on fire for me and help me to LOVE you with that same love Father.
Song of Solomon 8:6-7 NIV “Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame. Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away. If one were to give all the wealth of his house for love, it would be utterly scorned.”
Jealousy is unyielding it says Lord, but I want to be completely yielded to YOU! Please give me the GRACE to surrender completely my whole life to you! Help me to surrender my time, my thoughts, my will, my heart to Your ways and Your will! Bind My mind to your mind, and my will to Your will in Jesus’ name!
Ezekiel 35:11-12 NIV “… therefore as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I will treat you in accordance with the anger and jealousy you showed in your hatred of them and I will make myself known among them when I judge you.”
Oh Lord forgive me for the times I have been jealous of others. Forgive me for trying to obtain what others have, for selfish ambition and trying to make myself prominent out of my own insecurity and need for attention. Help me to submit to YOUR WILL completely in all areas of my life and change my HEART Lord to reflect Your heart !
Acts 5:17-18 NIV “Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.”
Acts 13:45 NIV “When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and talked abusively against what Paul was saying.”
Father, jealousy nailed Your Son to the cross and tortured Your Son, along with My sins. Free me Father from all the jealousy including any generational curse in my family! Forgive my family for setting an ungodly example of how to cope and deal with life’s problems. Help me to change and be more like YOU. Help me not to compare myself to others and what they have. Help me to be CONTENT with the gifts You have given me, and the life You made for me. Help me to appreciate what I have, and all You have done for me. Fill me with thankfulness instead of jealousy and envy of others. Help me to rejoice with those who rejoice.
Romans 13:12-14 NIV “Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.”
Father, Please give me the GRACE to overcome any immoral fleshly activity in my life that would fuel dissension and jealousy. Remove any pride that would cause me to think myself more deserving or better than others. Help me to “Put on” the Lord Jesus by coming into Your presence daily and worshipping You, and communicating with You in prayer and studying Your word, that My mind would be renewed.
1 Corinthians 3:3 NIV “You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?”
2 Corinthians 12:20 NIV “For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder.”
Galatians 5:19-21 NIV “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God.”
Father, uproot in me any of the works of the flesh, that would war against Your holiness in me! Bring to me, the Spirit of burning and burn off all the flesh that would yield to jealousy and envy, cruelty and hatred. Father do not allow your turtledove to be turned over to the wild beasts of the earth! Rescue me from all darkness! Fill me with more of Your love, peace, kindness and patience. Overwhelm me with YOUR LOVE, that I would not think or act in worldly ways. Give me GRACE to deny my flesh and to walk in the light as You are in the light.
Exodus 20:4-5 NKJV “You shall not make for yourself a carved image any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me…”
Exodus 34:13-16 NKJV “(for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they play the harlot with their gods and make sacrifice to their gods, and one of them invites you and you eat of his sacrifice…”
Father, it seems there is an alignment of jealousy with IDOLATRY. So I ask You to remove any idolatry to self or things in my life, that I would not yield to covetousness and envy. I renounce all idolatry in me, and in the generations before me. I ask for forgiveness for any ancestral idolatry and pray You will destroy any generational curses over my life.
I renounce agreement with any of the lies of jealousy demonstrated in my family growing up, and as an adult. I ask YOU to speak TRUTH to me, when I am tempted to jealousy or envy of others. I pray You will keep me from harming others with my own insecurity and petty jealousies. Destroy every lie of the enemy over my mind Father, that I can walk in wholeness and complete my quest for holiness in YOU.
Deuteronomy 4:23-24 NKJV “For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.”
Deuteronomy 6:15 AMP “For the Lord your God in the midst of you is a jealous God; lest the anger of the Lord your God be kindled against you, and He destroy you from the face of the earth…”
Father, come and be the all consuming fire in me! Consume all my flesh Lord, that I will be free from all envy and jealousy, that I will only look to YOU for all I need; that I will serve only an audience of ONE. I pray I will be more and more like YOU, and walk and talk like You. Conform my mind and thoughts to Your thoughts Lord. Take complete control of me Holy Spirit that I will not do my own will, but only Yours!
Nahum 1:2-3 NKJV “God is jealous, and the LORD avenges; The LORD avenges and is furious. The LORD will take vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserves wrath for His enemies; The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked. The LORD has His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet.”
Job 5:2 NKJV “For wrath kills a foolish man, and envy slays a simple one.”
Proverbs 3:31-32 NKJV “Do not envy the oppressor, and choose none of his ways; For the perverse person is an abomination to the LORD…”
Father, help me to be slow to anger or wrath. Remove any pain in my heart that would lead me to anger. Expose any pain I am unaware of Lord that still needs forgiveness. I only want to be like YOU. I refuse to give in to anger and envy of others. Remove from me all discontentment even with the way I am. Help me to love myself. Give me a pleasant personality, that I might be an encouragement and blessing to others, instead of always looking at how I fall short of the mark compared to others or envying them. Help me to appreciate who You made me to be. You said godliness with contentment is great gain. So grant me the GRACE Father, to walk in that contentment.
Proverbs 14:30 AMP “A calm and undisturbed mind and heart are the life and health of the body, but envy, jealousy, and wrath are like rottenness of the bones.”
Proverbs 23:17 AMP “Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord all the day long.”
Father, You state that jealousy and envy are like causing rottenness to the bones. It gives me a picture of fruit spoiling on a dish, rotting away to nothing. Father, Your Son came to bring me LIFE and that abundantly. Release me from all that has caused me to walk in envy and jealousy that I may have that abundant life. I want freedom Lord, so I can be and do all You have called me to be and do! Help me never to look at what is on the other person’s plate, with envy. Give me a heart of forgiveness and thankfulness and gratefulness and remove the roots of pride in my life, that I will not give in to envy or jealousy any more. I am seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, and nothing can snatch me out of Your hand Father. Help me to TRUST YOU MORE and to let go of any control in my life, to fully YIELD to Your ways and accept that anything that happens, You allow for my benefit. Fill me with gratitude of heart for all You have done for me!
Ecclesiastes 9:5-6 NKJV “For the living know that they will die; But the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished; Nevermore will they have a share in anything done under the sun.”
Father, when I am tempted by the enemy to envy or jealousy, remind me that this life is temporary. This is not my home. Heaven is my home, and that I have an ETERNAL inheritance that is much greater than anything in this life. Remove from me all striving and fill me with MORE of Your love and GRACE.
Isaiah 26:11 NKJV “LORD, when Your hand is lifted up, they will not see. But they will see and be ashamed for their envy of people; Yes, the fire of Your enemies shall devour them.”
Father, I don’t want to stand before you and have to explain how I was full of envy for others! Help my unbelief Father. Open my eyes to the roots of envy in my life. RELEASE ME! Do not allow me to be deceived by the enemy anymore. Help me to die to SELF and what I want, and to love what YOU want for my life! Kiss me with Your wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of You. Fill me with more of Your love, that I would overcome any pride, arrogance, ego-centricity in my life. I renounce all of that and all self-sufficiency! My sufficiency is in YOU Father! I dedicate my life to YOU and yield to YOUR will in my life, ALL of my life. Order my days and help me to be dependent on You for what I’m to do. Keep me from presumptive sins Father!”
Matthew 27:18 NKJV “For he knew that they had handed Him over because of envy.”
Mark 15:10 AMP “For he was aware that it was by envy that the chief priests had delivered Him up.”
Acts 13:45 AMP “But when the Jews saw the crowds, filled with envy and jealousy they contradicted what was said by Paul and talked abusively .”
Romans 1:28-29 AMP “And so, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God or approve of Him or consider Him worth the knowing, God gave them over to a base and condemned mind to do things not proper or decent but loathsome, Until they were filled (permeated and saturated ) with every kind of unrighteousness, iniquity, grasping and covetous greed, and malice. full of envy and jealousy, murder, strife, deceit and treachery, ill will and cruel ways. secret backbiters and gossipers…”
Father, uproot everything in me that would lift itself up against You! Open my eyes to anything I am not aware of in my life that is only self-serving and expose any judgments I have made that keep me in bondage to jealousy or envy! I want total freedom Father! Expose any bitterness in my heart that would keep me in sin.
1 Corinthians 3:3 AMP “For you are still of the flesh . For as long as envying and jealousy and wrangling and factions among you, are you not unspiritual and of the flesh, behaving yourselves after a human standard and like mere (unchanged) men?”
Father, kill the old man in me, that I can be filled with Christ and walk as He walked, talk as He talked, and live as He lived for doing only what You want! I will not be satisfied Lord till I awake in Your image! Continue to burn off the chaff of my flesh that I can be all You have called me to be! Grant me entrance into that place of intimacy with YOU, that I can be filled with Your love till I am able to receive all that You have for me and can walk in the fullness You have for me.
1 Corinthians 13:4 AMP “Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily.”
Father, again I ask FILL ME WITH YOUR LOVE! Overwhelm me with Your love. Take over my thought processes Holy Spirit. Have all of me! Do not leave anything left that is of me! Perfect me in Your love! Help me to renew my mind by speaking Your word. Help me to meditate on Your Word, that I can walk in the Spirit and not according to the flesh.
Galatians 5:21 AMP “Envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you beforehand, just as I did previously, that those who do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God.”
Rescue me Lord from all that would destroy my life in You! Your promise is to deliver us from all evil You said Lord! Let me not envy those who oppress and so not let me envy those who have more than I do. Keep me from that would deceive me! Give me discernment when the thoughts I am having are NOT from me, and help me to take EVERY THOUGHT CAPTIVE, that I would not give in to ruminating on things that are unhealthy for my spiritual life. You are My Deliverer, the Rock upon which I stand! I trust YOU to deliver me from all that encompasses me about and hinders me from the fullness of YOU!
Philippians 1:15 AMP “Some, it is true, preach Christ (the Messiah) out of envy and rivalry (party spirit), but others are doing so out of a loyal spirit and goodwill.”
1 Timothy 6:3-5 AMP “But if anyone teaches otherwise and does not assent to the sound and wholesome messages of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah) and the teaching which is in agreement with godliness (piety toward God), He is puffed up with pride and stupefied with conceit, woefully ignorant. He has a morbid fondness for controversy and disputes and strife about words, which result in (produce) envy and jealousy, quarrels and dissension, abuse and insults and slander, and base suspicions, And protracted wrangling and wearing discussion and perpetual friction among men who are corrupted in mind and bereft of the truth, who imagine that godliness or righteousness is a source of profit . From such withdraw.”
Titus 3:3 AMP “For we also were once thoughtless and senseless, obstinate and disobedient, deluded and misled; slaves to all sorts of cravings and pleasures, wasting our days in malice and jealousy and envy, hateful (hated, detestable) and hating one another.”
Father, remove all hatred, anger, murder, envy and rebellion from my heart, that I will NO longer give in to envy and jealousy. Uproot any and all unforgiveness in my life for any pain I endured. Help me to forgive those who abused me. Help me to forgive DEEP in my heart, that nothing of the enemy would be found in me Lord! Heal me in my inner man, that I can be free Lord to be like YOU! Help me to walk in intimacy with You, always looking to YOU and not depending on my own self or selfishness.
Give me a peaceful spirit Lord and overwhelm me with YOUR GOODNESS.
I worship YOU Father and lay down my life before you.
I surrender my thoughts and opinions to YOU. I give You permission to burn off all that cannot withstand the test Lord! Make me a new person.
You said, that if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. So make me new and pleasing to You Father. GRANT me GREAT GRACE to fight the good fight, to speak Your Word and to BELIEVE all You have told me.
James 3:14 AMP “But if you have bitter jealousy (envy) and contention (rivalry, selfish ambition) in your hearts, do not pride yourselves on it and thus be in defiance of and false to the Truth.”
Help me Lord to LOVE my brother and sister, even as You have loved me.
Thank You Father, that you rescued me from a life of sin and death. Thank You that you brought me into the light and will keep my by the power of Your grace. Speak truth to my inner man and and help me to LOVE the Truth for YOU are TRUTH Lord and nothing is hidden from You. Create in me a pure heart oh Lord and renew a steadfast spirit within me!
1 Peter 2:1-2 Amp “So be done with every trace of wickedness (depravity, malignity) and all deceit and insincerity (pretense, hypocrisy) and grudges (envy, jealousy) and slander and evil speaking of every kind. Like newborn babies you should crave (thirst for, earnestly desire) the pure (unadulterated) spiritual milk, that by it you may be nurtured and grow unto salvation…”
Father, remove any PRETENSE over my life. Open my spiritual eyes to see me as You see me Lord. Remove any false images I have of You Father. Heal my heart and help me to see myself as You want me to Lord. Reveal to me any areas of pretense that I can be REAL and integritous in my walk with You. Come Holy Spirit and renew my heart and mind, and give me YOUR EYES to see with Lord! In Jesus’ name AMEN!
In the Hebrew Old Testament, envy and jealousy are the same word: qin’ah.
OT:7068 qin’ah (kin-aw’); from OT:7065; jealousy or envy: KJV – envy (-ied), jealousy, sake, zeal.
OT:7065 qana’ (kaw-naw’); a primitive root; to be (causatively, make) zealous, i.e. (in a bad sense) jealous or envious: KJV – (be) envy (-ious), be (move to, provoke to) jealous (-y), very, (be) zeal (-ous).
The Greek has mainly two words for jealousy and envy: phthonos and zelos.
NT:5355 phthonos (fthon’-os); probably akin to the base of NT:5351; ill-will (as detraction), i.e. jealousy (spite): KJV – envy.
NT:5351 phtheiro (fthi’-ro); probably strengthened from phthio (to pine or waste); properly, to shrivel or wither, i.e. to spoil (by any process) or (generally) to ruin (especially figuratively, by moral influences, to deprave): KJV – corrupt (self), defile, destroy.
NT:2205 zelos (dzay’-los); from NT:2204; properly, heat, i.e. (figuratively) “zeal” (in a favorable sense, ardor; in an unfavorable one, jealousy, as of a husband , or an enemy, malice): KJV – emulation, envy (-ing), fervent mind, indignation, jealousy, zeal.
NT:2204 zeo (dzeh’-o); a primary verb; to be hot (boil, of liquids; or glow, of solids), i.e. (figuratively) be fervid (earnest): KJV – be fervent.
NT:2206 zeloo (dzay-lo’-o) or zeleuo (dzay-loo’-o); from NT:2205; to have warmth of feeling for or against: KJV – affect, covet (earnestly), (have) desire, (move with) envy, be jealous over, (be) zealous (-ly affect).
– by Priscilla Van Sutphin
First published, February 2004
by: PRISCILLA VAN SUTPHIN
of Upstream Ministries, California
www.upstreamca.org www.blogtalkradio.com/Upstream Email: goinupstream @hotmail.com Donate to Upstream: via secure paypal by sending as gift to goininupstream @hotmail.com
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