Hey All:
This week we continue to look at the prayer the Lord taught as to pray in Mat 6:13. “lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.” We saw a couple weeks ago when we looked at the book of Job that God does not tempt. In James 1:13 it also says that God cannot be tempted and let no one say that he is being tempted by God. So we know temptation comes from the devil.
Where are we tempted to sin the most?
Temptation of the flesh
I love that Paul always has words for us to understand a topic in the event that it is unclear as to what are temptations of the flesh. In Galatians 5: 19-21 he tells us that the deeds of the flesh are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, out bursts of anger, disputes, dissension, factions, envy, drunkenness, and carousing. Yet when I think about this list we can easily break it down into many things that hit closer to home. A great example for me is food. God gives us all types of delicious and nutritious options and yet for some of us it becomes something that we over indulge. All of us struggle with some burden of the flesh. What tempts me has little or no effect on the next person, which is why we need to pray daily for God to give us strength to overcome this area. Finally Paul reminds us in Col 3:5-9 that because of these things that Gods wrath will come upon the “sons of disobedience” and that we once lived and walked in this sin but we laid our old self aside being renewed in Christ.
Temptation from a fallen world
Sin entered into the world at the Garden of Eden and unfortunately we cannot go back and change the fact that sin will be here on earth until Christ returns again. Christ conquered sin and the power of the devil with His death and resurrection so we need not fear the world in which we live. Yet daily we see the effects of a fallen world around us in crime, graft, and corruption. People certainly are not showing love to one another when we watch the news at night.
Temptation from the devil
Paul clearly points out that we must be alert to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. (Eph 6:11-12) Even further that we battle against the forces of darkness. I am not one for looking around every corner to see or place blame on the “forces of darkness” because I believe in God’s eternal strength, power and plan for my life. We must always be on guard that we do not drift to far such as Hymenaeus and Alexander did in 1 Timothy 1:19-20. Here we see it says that they suffered shipwreck in their faith and were turned over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme. For anyone going down this path we can only pray as it says in 2 Timothy 2:26 that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil.
So to Wrap it up
When we pray this part of the Lord’s prayer we are asking God to keep us from going our own way and following all the temptations we face daily. If (when) we do drift do not allow us to go to far without being corrected or finding true repentance. When we go through the challenges in life, we also pray that God would guard, protect and strengthen us as we are reminded in 1 Corinthians 10:13.
Father I lift everyone up to you everyone that is reading this blog. I ask that you give them strength to fight whatever challenges that face them this week. Lord sometimes it seems that these things are overwhelming and there is no hope for the future. I pray that you help each of us to see the plan that you have laid out for us to overcome these temptations and that we can accept and implement it to restore our lives again. We know that you have the power over everything in heaven and earth and that there is nothing to large or small for you to grant. Finally I thank you for the ultimate HOPE that you have given us through your son Jesus. Amen? Amen!
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