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"And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen."
(Matthew 6:13)
SWAT is one of my favorite Television shows. I record each week's episode and enjoy watching Hondo, Deac, and the gang protect the innocent and go after the bad guys. The last episode was a thriller. Hondo and Deac turn in their weapons as they enter the courtroom to testify for the prosecution in a case. But while in the courtroom, a criminal kills an officer, releases other criminals, and takes many people hostage. Hondo and Deac skillfully lead a group of people in the courtroom to the ledge of the building where they help them escape by jumping onto an oversized inflated platform device that cushions their fall. After making sure all were safe, Hondo and Deac looked at each other before they too were to jump to safety. They determined that to stay would be more helpful to the remaining hostages, so they resisted the temptation to protect themselves and went back into the building to help get the bad guys.
I love to see, whether in real life or on TV, people who are faced with a clear choice of right and wrong and choose the right. I wish I could say I always choose to resist temptation and do the right thing. I do not, and well, truth be told, you do not either. Only Jesus faced every temptation without sinning. In this part of His Model Prayer, He teaches His followers to pray and ask the Father to help them not go down the path of temptation and deliver us from the evil one. Temptation and the evil one always go together. God never tempts us, according to James 1:13: "Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am tempted by God; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone." The devil, however, specializes in tempting us to sin to bring hurt and shame to us and the kingdom of God.
If you are struggling with temptation and continue to lose your battle, please take a moment and soak in the way Jesus concludes the Lord's Prayer. God is your source of strength! He has the power to make you an overcomer. God's kingdom is more powerful than Satan's. Jesus' power is greater and His glory unparalleled. The Almighty God, the only true and living God, will come to your aid and deliver you when you pray and ask for His help.
A verse I have committed to memory that helps me in my battles with temptation is 1 Corinthians 10:13. I pray this verse for me and for those I know who are struggling with the temptation to sin. I encourage you to commit it to memory as well: "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it."
I hope you have been encouraged and blessed by our study of the Lord's Prayer this week in our daily devotions. I am learning more and more how powerful prayer is. When we work and serve without prayer, then we get only the results that we can manufacture. But when we pray and then go and serve the Lord, wow, we get what God can do: the miraculous.
I invite you to join our prayer meeting at Great Hills Baptist Church on Tuesday evenings at 7:00PM (CST). We have hundreds who participate with us online as well those who are with us in person. We sing praise, and I usually give a brief word of exhortation, but primarily, we pray. God is working powerfully and answering our prayers. We would be happy to pray for you as well.
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