Prayer & Temptation

We are to DAY #4, of our “Loving to Talk to God” Bible Memory Challenge. I hope you are enjoying learning the verses.

Are you just finding out about the Memory Challenge? Grab the Memory Verse list here.

Today we are going to talk a little bit about the relation of prayer to temptation. Our thought for today is, Prayer keeps us from temptation. Prayer has the ability to keep us from straying from the right path.

DAY #4 MEMORY VERSE

Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Matthew 26:41

Prayer Keeps Us from Temptation

I chose this verse about prayer and temptation because it shows us how weak our flesh is, even in a thing as mundane as sleep.

This verse comes from a passage in the Bible where Jesus is praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. This was right after Jesus had shared a meal with his disciples. We have come to refer to that as, The Last Supper. This was the time that Jesus was praying for God’s will. Jesus knew His death was imminent. His disciple, Judas, already had plans to betray Jesus with a kiss.

Jesus had taken a few of his disciples with him where He prayed. It was Peter, James and John (Matthew 26:37, Mark 14:33)

Jesus told them to “watch with me” (Matthew 26:38) and “watch and pray” (Matthew 26:41).

Jesus had just shared with these men how sorrowful He was before He went a little further to pray. Jesus shared what a troubled state He was in at that very moment. He wanted those disciples to be there for Him, but the flesh got the better of them and they fell asleep. And if you read the whole passage, they fell asleep more than once.

That’s how powerless we are when it comes to our bodies and to the flesh. It wins when we aren’t vigilant.

So, it stands to reason if we have trouble with something like being drawn to sleep, then how hard will it be to avoid real sin and the temptation of it?

Doing right or wrong seems like it would be easy. Right? Well, it’s not always! Sometimes it’s a big struggle. We need prayer to help us. When we come face to face with a real battle of the mind and flesh and are teetering on which path we shall choose, prayer can be a such powerful tool.

Temptation is a battle, and we must prepare for it. You can put rules for yourself and safeguards in your life to keep you from sinning, but prayer is a powerful way to avoid temptation.

Even The Lord’s Prayer, which Jesus gave as a model of prayer for us, includes praying for avoiding temptation.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil…Matthew 6:13

Do you remember the first verse we learned in this Memory Challenge? “Praying always…” Ephesians 6:18. It was right there with the Armor of God. Prayer can ground us and shield us from a lot of things if we would just rely on it more.

We need the power of prayer to help us avoid temptation. There are so many things we can bring into our prayer life. We can ask for physical and spiritual things. We can pray for other people. We can praise God. Lots of things. But praying to avoid temptation should be a part of our daily prayer life and the first thing we engage in when temptation comes knocking.

Prayer can help us avoid hurting other people or even ourselves. It can help us avoid making so many mistakes. It can help us stay out of a whole heap of trouble!

Alright. Your turn. Is there a time in your life when you know that prayer kept you from doing something you shouldn’t? Do you have a perspective on this memory verse? Please share.

Have a lovely day,
Julia

2022 Bible Memory Challenge

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