Focus: Luke 22:46 - KJV
46. And said unto them, Why sleep ye? rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.
Job 1:6-12
The way of the accuser of the brethren to steal from, kill and destroy men is through temptation. And such is brought to bear the more while men sleep, for it is then that the enemy can sow tares. Those who refuse to sleep would watch and pray. The Lord Jesus Christ, before commencing His earthly ministry went fasting for forty days and then the tempter came but was unable to prevail over Him because He had prayed. Job did not pray and had no one to intercede for him so that at a critical moment in his life, the enemy sought to sift him like wheat and obtained a pass to do so. That was possible because there was no one on the prayer watch. The same was the story of Peter: the enemy sought to sift him too. Incidentally, at the critical time when Peter and his friends ought to watch and pray, they slept instead. Thank God he had Christ to pray for him, else his devastation would have been worse than mere denial at the garden of Gethsemane, but a total desertion.
The aim of the accuser of the brethren in seeking to tempt us is to give us things that will hurt us so much that will affect our faith in Christ to the extent of bringing us to the place of denial. Christ has shown us by example that when we do watch and pray, we will not enter into temptation. When the enemy comes, he comes rushing like a flood. Those who are not fortified with prayers are easily eroded in the devastation that follows. The way to be victorious and not enter into temptation is to watch and pray. Some will rather sleep and not pray. That is what the Bible refers to as the sleep of death. Not that the fellow will physically die, but spiritually in that those who deny their God are dead even though they walk the face of the earth. May we never encounter the temptation that will make us deny God, in Jesus’ name.
SOLUTION: Always find quality time to pray so that God may fortify you against the tempter so that you may remain in Him and not be cast away. Men ought always to pray and not to faint.
Please pray:
· Give thanks to God for holding you up thus far and not allowing the tempter to sift you
· Ask God to please continue to fortify you against the devices of the tempter and never allow any temptation to come your way that will surpass your capacity
· Ask the Lord to please pray for you like He prayed for Peter
· Please tell God to rescue those going through fierce temptation at the moment
· Whatever temptation you may be going through ask God to please bring it to an end today.
If you are blessed by this post, kindly share with your contacts, as well as others, that they may be blessed also. Thank you and may God bless you abundantly as you do so, in Jesus’ name.