Lord, Teach Us to Pray (Part 5)
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
God does not tempt people to do wrong (James 1:13). Instead, He provides a “way of escape” (1 Corinthians 10:13) if we will look for it. The reason so many people feel helpless to change their sinful lifestyles is because they are helpless without Christ. But also, many want their sin and Jesus too while the fact is that you cannot have both. Everyone comes to a Y in the journey where they must choose which way they will go. Will you choose the straight and narrow path that leads to life, or the road of destruction that leads to death? Only you can decide. Once you have truly surrendered your life to Jesus, then He is able to give you the power to withstand temptation while He receives the glory for another life that has been set free.
Some would say that God never promised us a rose garden, but I like to think of the Christian life as just that. Life is full of thorns that will try to scar us along the way. Sometimes the patch may be so thick that we don’t think we can penetrate it, and we want to turn around. In fact, early on, sticks and thorns may be all we see. In due time, however, the roses begin to bloom, and we realize that, had we not persevered, we would have missed the beauty that God had planned for us.
I guess this ended up being not so much about prayer as it is about temptation. Part of an effective prayer life is confessing sins, but if you find that you are continuing to do those sins that you have asked forgiveness of, examine your heart to know if you really want to be free. If you do, then ask God to show you the way of escape and take it. Do not keep riding the fence. You may not have tomorrow to make things right.
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