‘Blessed is anyone who endures temptation. Such a one has stood the test and will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him’ (Jam 1: 12).
Our daily prayer is to save us from temptation. But our supplication, ’Lead us not into temptation’ is often rewarded with more and more temptations! Here our only consolation is that God will not leave us to be tested beyond our strength. With every temptation God will also provide us the way out so that we may be able to endure it (1 Cor 10:13). Temptation comes from the devil and it is not easy for man to endure it unless he is supported by grace from above.
Once we come out of the temptation unscathed, then we are called blessed. Jesus has shown us how to endure temptation. Prayer, fasting and a firm belief in the Word saw him defeating the enemy. These three weapons will seal our hearts against the entry of those three primary and constant enemies; the world, the flesh,and the devil.
Having the anointing of the Holy Spirit is no guarantee against the attacks of the enemy. As we read in the gospel, Jesus was tempted by the devil in the wilderness immediately after his baptism. The fact that ‘Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit’ (Lk 4:1) was no obstruction for the devil to attack him. Temptation is the rule, as the Lord has testified elsewhere. ‘Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to anyone by whom they come’ (Lk 17:1).
As we enter Lent, remember that it is a remembrance of the forty days of prayer and fasting that Jesus had undergone. Also remember that the devil saw this period as the best time to tempt Jesus. If he dared to approach the Son of God when he was full of the Holy Spirit’ and fully immersed in prayer and fasting, we ordinary mortals are much easier prey for the devil during Lent. In fact temptations do increase during Lent. It has been our experience.
So what is the way out? It is prayer and fasting for ‘this kind can come out only through prayer, and fasting’ (Mk 9:29). So, let us resolve to complete this Lent with more prayer and more fasting. Let us also take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God (Eph 6:17) as our most effective weapon against the enemy. If Jesus could defeat the devil with this weapon, we too can do it.
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