And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver
us from the evil one. Matt 6:13
Are you struggling with temptation? You are not alone. Even though we may not talk
about it, all Christians experience that struggle. There is no point at which the
believer graduates from temptation.
Sometimes you get the picture that the struggle to succumb to temptation
is something that only new Christians struggle with. That is not the case. The
truth is that you have weaknesses just as I do.
There are certain areas of our lives where we all battle the flesh. To
make matters worse, the Bible tells us that our “adversary the devil walks
about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”(1 Peter 5:8) Yes it is true. Christians have an adversary,
the Devil, and he wants to make us give in to temptation and disobey God. We
all have different areas that we struggle with, certain propensities to sin,
and our adversary knows just where they are and what buttons to push to try and
make us give in.
When we pray “do not
lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one”, we begin to acknowledge the battle against temptation.
And as the old saying goes, acknowledging that there is an problem it the first
step in curing it. In humility we are saying “Lord I know that have areas in my
flesh that I struggle with and I am confessing I need Your mercy and
grace.” God can, and does, give you the
grace you need to stand up to the temptation and resist the evil one.
When
we use the Lord’s Prayer as our blueprint, we begin our day by addressing the
fact that certain temptations will come our way and we will struggle with them.
Don’t be afraid to acknowledge your struggles to God. He knows them anyway. Ask Him for the grace to
overcome them, and He will answer.
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