A Prayer to Develop the Spiritual Fruit of Self-Control

A Prayer to Develop the Spiritual Fruit of Self-Control

From Your Daily Prayer by Your Daily Prayer

June 6, 2026 · 7 min

About this episode

Vivian Bricker discusses the importance of self-control as a spiritual fruit and shares personal stories of struggle and growth in this area.

A screaming, fist-swinging baby who wants the whole world to know he's unhappy — it's a picture that's easy to laugh at, until we recognize ourselves in it. In this honest and relatable episode, Vivian Bricker reflects on how many of us feel that same urge to cry, kick, and lash out — and how the fruit of self-control is one of the hardest, most necessary gifts the Holy Spirit grows in us. From childhood tantrums to adult struggles with anger, impulse spending, peer pressure, and addiction, the battle for self-control is one every believer knows well. Vivian shares the story of a friend whose struggle to say "no" to alcohol grew quietly and steadily until it became something he could no longer manage on his own — and whose eventual freedom came not through willpower, but through the work of God and the Holy Spirit's cultivation of egkrateia : Spirit-enabled mastery over desires, impulses, and habits so that they serve rather than rule us. That same Spirit is available to every one of us today. Self-control is the last fruit listed in Galatians 5:22-23 — but it may be the one we need to pray for most urgently. The road is long, but God walks every step of…

People in this episode

Host: Vivian Bricker

Topics covered

  • self-control
  • spiritual fruit
  • Holy Spirit
  • anger management
  • addiction
  • faith

Keywords

  • self-control
  • spiritual fruit
  • Holy Spirit
  • anger
  • impulse control
  • addiction
  • faith

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Galatians 5:22-23

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