Are you tired of losing the battle against temptation?
Do you feel like every time that temptation comes it wins? That you just never seem able to win the battle?
What if there was a way to avoid some of the battles to begin with?
Matthew 26:41 - "Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Part of our problem in the fight against sin isn't how we fight, but that we're fighting a battle we didn't need to get into.
We talk a lot about how to fight sin, but we don't talk often about how to avoid the fight in the first place. If you find your flesh is weak for the battle, then be on the lookout so that you can avoid the battle altogether.
Jesus tells his disciples to watch and pray so that they don't fall into temptation.
We know our enemies. We know the sins that seem to ensnare us more easily than the others.
So keep a lookout. Watch for them to stick up their nasty, tempting heads. Listen for their dreaded footsteps so that you can run before they even get there.
And pray. Speak the truth to yourself about the fight before the fight ever happens.
Do you hear the whisper of a common temptation? Flood out his voice with prayer. Do you feel a battle coming in your heart? Wet the wood of temptation with the waters of prayer.
In the battle, we can be so distracted that we listen to lies. Lies about who we are. Lies about others. Lies about what we must do.
So pray the truth before the battle starts. Be building walls of truth around your heart so that the enemy can't even find a foothold for temptation.
Sometimes, we lose because we're fighting a battle we didn't have to fight. We're facing a temptation that we could have avoided.
How do we avoid temptation before it comes?
Watch and pray.
Tired of losing the battle against temptation?
Watch and pray.
Are you disappointed by how weak your flesh is?
Watch and pray.
Sometimes, the best way to win against sin is to skip the fight altogether.