Fight with Prayer

‘Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak’; Matthew 26:41

‘Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one’; Matthew 6:13.

In this plan, we are studying how as apprentices of Jesus we can learn how to overcome temptation. It starts with understanding what temptation is and understanding the difference between the temptation to follow and satisfy the desires of our sinful natures, and the actual fulfillment of those desires – which is sin.

We can begin to learn to overcome temptation by removing from our lives the means of satisfying the desires of the sinful nature – by ‘making no provision for the flesh’. (If you don’t have drugs in the house, it’s more difficult to take and abuse drugs.)

But far more positively, (and much more powerfully), we overcome temptation by loving Jesus more than the temptation. Why choose to drink dishwater when Jesus offers the pure water of life through his gift of the kingdom in the Spirit? We learn to overcome temptation through knowing what our heavenly Father says about us, and by establishing godly habits, rhythms, and practices in our lives.

All these are true, and each is powerful and effective, but still, there will occasionally come times when you and I will face moments of severe temptation. Jesus not only told us to pray; ‘Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one’, but in Gethsemane, he instructed his closest apostles; ‘Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour? Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak'.

They didn’t! They fell badly! They ran away. Peter lashed out and cut someone’s ear off! It was carnage! He hadn’t prayed, he wasn’t prepared and all through the night he kept denying that he even knew Jesus!

There will be times when you and I have to fight temptation with every ounce of energy we have in prayer – just like Jesus fought the temptation to slip away into the night with three ‘hours’ of intense focused prayer. His sweat was like drops of blood!

But the great truth is that just as Jesus prepared himself in prayer, we also can be prepared through prayer and overcome the temptation when it comes.

Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.