4 Minute Read

Prepare Your Heart

To the best of your ability, get rid of all distractions. Take a few minutes to breathe deeply and quiet yourself in the Lord’s presence. Then, ask the Lord to speak to you in this time. Let Him know that you will listen and make whatever adjustments He will reveal to you.

Read God’s Word

Numbers 34-36
Mark 14:32-52

A Verse for Today

Slowly and reflectively read the following verse(s) and listen to what God will say to you through His written Word. Consider writing down any insights He reveals to you.

Mark 14:38 (CSB): “Stay awake and pray so that you won’t enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Reflecting on God’s Word

I once heard a former pastor say in a sermon, “Temptation is the intersection of two things: desire and opportunity.” As he elaborated on this thought and I reflected on it, I realized he was absolutely right.

For example, let’s say I’m trying to lose some unwanted weight but I find myself feeling hungry. If you placed a delicious piece of my favorite dessert in front of me, it would be extremely tempting. I would have both the desire to eat it (since I’m hungry) and the opportunity to eat it (because it’s right in front of me). This can be summarized as: DESIRE + OPPORTUNITY = TEMPTATION.

However, let’s say I’ve just eaten and I’m as stuffed as a tick. If you were to place a delicious piece of my favorite dessert in front of me, I might groan and push it away. It’s not tempting at all because I have no desire to eat it (since I’m full!) even though the dessert is right in front of me (opportunity). My lack of desire means there is no temptation. (NO DESIRE + OPPORTUNITY = NO TEMPTATION)

Finally, imagine a scenario where I’m feeling hungry and have a strong craving for my favorite dessert, but there’s none available in the house. Even though I desire the dessert, I won’t end up eating it because it’s simply not there. (DESIRE + NO OPPORTUNITY = NO TEMPTATION)

Temptation works this way. There must be both a desire and an opportunity to act on that wrong desire.

So, what I’ve counseled people to do (and have done in my own life) is eliminate opportunities to sin while you work on changing your desires (by God’s grace). If you have a desire for a particular sin or unhealthy choice that gets you most of the time, then you need to figure out how you can get rid of the opportunity to act on that desire while you are spending time renewing your mind and heart so that you desire that sin less.

This leads us to the verse I have chosen for today. It answers the question: “Well, how can I change my desire for a specific sin?” Listen to what Jesus told Peter, James, and John.

Mark 14:38 (CSB): “Stay awake and pray so that you won’t enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Pray! That’s what Jesus told them to do so that they would not stumble into temptation and then into sin. They were to pray!

But how does prayer keep us from temptation? Here are a few ways that come to mind:

  • It gives us an opportunity to ask the Lord to remove temptation before it comes (Matthew 6:13).
  • It keeps our enjoyable relationship with God from becoming a dry, powerless religion. If we are enjoying our God, we are less likely to crave lesser things.
  • It gives us an opportunity to verbalize our struggles to the Lord. Knowing our weakness is half the battle.
  • It calls Heaven to enter our world and help us in our weakness.

Spend Time in Prayer

  • Ask God to enable you to identify the areas in which you are falling into temptation.
  • Ask God to help you get more serious about prayer to fight off temptation and remain faithful to the Lord.

Going Deeper

If you want to dig a little deeper into how to fight off temptation, consider reading the following GotQuestions article:

“What are the keys to resisting temptation?”

“What does it mean to watch and pray?”

Sharing

If this post has been helpful to you or if you think it could help others, please consider tapping one of the social media buttons below to share it on your favorite platform.

____________________

Matt Ellis is the pastor of First Baptist Church in Polk City, Florida (fbcpolkcity.com)