Day 7
Jesus said,
"Pray that you don't enter into temptation"
Luke 22:40
Prayer
"Pray that you don't enter temptation." Your Son gave this instruction His disciples in the garden of Gethsemane as His enemies were on their way to arrest Him, crucify Him and persecute His disciples.
But instead of praying, the disciples slept and then failed in the temptation that came. As Jesus prayed He was strengthened by an angel (Luke 22:43). He then prevailed by dying on the cross.
Jesus didn't intend for disciples to ask You to remove temptation. The temptation to deny You was on its way as You planned and prophesied.4.3g Jesus intended far more than a one sentence prayer to remove temptation.4.3g
Jesus intended a prolonged period
of intense fellowship with You in a wide variety of prayers, worship,
confession and requests.4.3g The prolonged, intense, two way conversation with
You that should have occurred in the Garden of Gethsemane would have requested spiritual
power for protection of their souls. Protection in the test of fire that was coming.
Furthermore, the disciples should have remained conscious of Your presence until the temptation had passed.
You have taught me that the
appearance of temptation is a crossroads. At the moment in which temptation
first appears, I will either "enter into" Your presence,
or "enter into" the temptation. If I don't enter into the Your presence, I tend to keep looking at the temptation until I enter sin.4.3g
I can't look at You and temptation at the same time.
When the soul encounters temptation and turns to You, it must hold its gaze on You until the temptation passes. The mind may be distracted back to the temptation. But, instead of fighting the temptation, the soul must keep turning its attention back Your Spirit within. Then I am listening for instruction from You, watching in prayer2.4, looking for a door for Your word.4.4c
In this way my soul receives power from You, offers praise and makes requests. I pray the Endorsed Prayers. The Endorsed Prayer of Obedience results in obedience.4.3f The Endorsed Prayers of Faith4.3a and Love4.3e result in faith, love and peace. On the other hand, instead of praying actively, my soul may just behold You and listen.1.3
As temptation comes, I must keep turning inward to You, again and again and again...
until the temptation passes.
In this
way, my soul is praying instead of entering into temptation.
This is what You meant when Jesus said, "Pray that you don't enter into temptation."
Sometimes this prayer uses words. Sometimes it is a prayer of silence. Either way, my soul is essentially
"entering into" Your presence instead of "entering into
temptation". It is difficult for my soul to sin while
it is beholding You.
All praise belongs to You oh Lord!
Teach me to walk by the Spirit!
Amen.
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You are reading the Walk by the Spirit Daily Devotional Series, which is subchapter 3.7 of the free, online book Fellowship with God in the Sixth Path. In the Walk by the Spirit Daily Devotional, readers learn how to how to walk by the Spirit. Walking by the Spirit is one way the New Testament describes fellowship with God, the subject of this online book.
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