Luke 22:40 NLT- There he told them, “Pray that you will not give in to temptation.”
By Andrew Williams
Good morning, fellow disciples.
When we look at this verse, the first thing that comes to mind is that we should pray to God asking Him for the power to resist temptation. But what if that is not what this verse means?
Prayer, at its root, is simply having a conversation with God. When we pray: we speak to God, listen to Him, meditate on His written and spoken WORD, and redirect our focus off the temptation, and place it unto God and His will and purpose for our lives. If we pray constantly or pray without ceasing, we will have no time to entertain temptations.
Temptation: the desire to do something, especially something wrong or unwise, or to entice to do wrong by promise of pleasure or gain.
When you look at the rest of the passage, we realize that Jesus went and prayed so that He resisted the temptation to do something wrong or unwise. His disciples, on the other hand, went to sleep. One of them betrayed Him because he did not spend time in prayer. Another resorted to violence in an attempt to defend Jesus. Instead of spending time in prayer, Peter followed Jesus and ended up denying Him three times.
What have you done that is wrong or unwise because you did not spend time in prayer?
Pray, so that you may not give in to temptation!