By Ronald E.
George Jr. at the Fayetteville Baptist Church
Two secretaries were taking a tea break when they began
to talk about their respective churches.
"I never knew you went to church," said the
first one. "I'll bet you twenty dollars you can't even recite the Lord's
prayer."
"Oh yes, I CAN," said the second.
"Well, then, let's HEAR it," said the first.
The second one began, "Now I lay me down to sleep, I
pray Thee, Lord, my soul to keep..."
The first secretary listened with astonishment.
"Wow!" he said. "Here's your twenty dollars. I sure didn't
think you knew it!" Do we
know and pray it?
Scripture Text: Matt
6:9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in
heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth,
as [it is] in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And
forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the
power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
Help us, Lord.
We are weak, but you are strong. We
are susceptible to temptation.
Craig Keener in his commentary on Matthew shows
that the temptation in this case means testing.
Specifically the petitioner is asking that God will help to keep him or
her from failing the test and falling. The
early Christians were often persecuted and the result was that some would fall
and give in. Thus the temptation
to apostasy was the particular test many of those days would face.
According to Keener this is a prayer that God would deliver us through
testing and not to keep us from it.
What
do we need to be able to overcome temptation and resist the devil?
The great test of the saints is the battle for the mind.
1.
We need a decision. Are
you for God or against Him? Do
you want Him or not? Are you sure
you want to live with God in your life? Then
ask for deliverance from temptation and from evil.
In this you are truly seeking to live with God throughout your life.
Leslie
Dunkin told about a dog he had when he was a boy. Periodically his father
would test the dog's obedience. He would place a tempting piece of meat on the
floor and give the command, "No!"
The dog, which must have had a strong urge to go for the meat, was
placed in a most difficult situation -- to obey or disobey his master's
command.
Dunkin
said, "The dog never looked at the meat.
He seemed to feel that if he did, the temptation to disobey would be
too great. So he looked steadily
at my father's face." Dunkin
then made this spiritual application: "There is a lesson for us all.
Always look up to the Master's face."
Look into His face and listen to His voice.
Yes,
that's good advice. God, of
course, will not tempt us to do wrong. However,
we do encounter many temptations, and if we keep our eyes fixed on the Lord
Jesus we will be able to overcome them. --Leslie E. Dunkin
2.
We need dependence that allows for the presence of His
strength. With God all things are
possible. This prayer for the
future recognizes that we desire to be delivered.
God will deliver us from temptations and from evil that will come.
We know that we will be tested. We
know that we will face evil. We
know that we will be overcome. We
know that we need to be delivered. We
need to be dependent upon the one who can and will deliver us.
Don’t take a chance with your life.
Depend on Him.
1Cor 10:12 (KJS) Wherefore let
him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as
is common to man: but God [is] faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted
above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to
escape, that ye may be able to bear [it].
3.
We need a defense. Our
defense is the Holy Spirit, support from friends, and wisdom.
A pastor warned his handsome new assistant about the dangers of
immorality in the ministry. The
assistant said that he always did his socializing in a group setting and
concluded, "there is safety in numbers."
The wise pastor replied, "Yes, that is so, but there is more
safety in Exodus!" We need
to find an escape before we fall. The best defense is an offense that takes
you face to face in the battle. Go
forward with the armor of God. Eph.
6.
Jude 1:24 (KJS) Now unto him that
is able to keep you from falling, and to present [you] faultless before the
presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
4.
We need determination.
We must be determined to live a life of consistency that leads to
holiness in our lives. When we sin we must be determined to never surrender to sin.
We must remember that failure is not final.
Realizing that we stand helpless before the power of sin we must remain
yielded to the power of the Lord. When
we fail we must get back up and go again to the Lord.
Too often, Christians get caught
up in the passions of their flesh that in the end they will have to pay for
their sins. Therefore, no matter how alluring things may appear to us, we must
simply walk away and avoid temptation.
5.
We need a deliverer. We can’t do this without Him. Do you want a deliverer?
He is there calling your name. Will
you listen and invite His strength to deliver you?
He has been there. He was tempted by the devil himself, but with the power of
the Father in his life He was able to overcome all the temptations.
Will you be delivered?
The devil held a great anniversary at which his emissaries were
convened to report the results of their several missions. "I let loose
the wild beasts of the desert," said one, "on a caravan of
Christians; and their bones are now bleaching on the sands." "What
of that?" said the devil. "Their souls were all saved." "I
drove the east wind," said another, "against a ship freighted with
Christians, and they were all drowned." "What of that?" said
the devil. "Their souls were all saved." "For ten years I tried
to get a single Christian asleep," said a third, "and I succeeded
and left him so." Then the devil shouted, and the night stars of hell
sang for joy. William
Moses Tidwell, "Pointed Illustrations."