Temptation often seeks us out, typically without any involvement on our part. We can be just going about our own business when all of a sudden, WHAM! Temptation strikes us right where we stand.
Temptation is defined as “the desire to do something, especially wrong or unwise.” It’s an act of being influenced or allured by an exciting hope or desire – and it’s a powerful force that is very challenging to resist. But there is a way. Here are three habits that we need to follow when faced with temptation.
- Trust in God. When facing any temptation, we need to fall back to the core center of our faith. During times of temptation, we must trust that God is right there with us and will help us overcome whatever we face. So we must be strong enough to trust that God will help us, especially when we call out to him, which leads to the next vital habit.
- Constant Prayer. If we are to successfully conquer the temptation before us, we must engage in constant communication with the Lord. When we open a dialog with God (through prayer) and verbally voice our fears and concerns, it helps us realize that we can defeat our temptations because we “talk it out” with our Father. Through our conversational prayer, we not only distract ourselves from the temptation at hand but we also clear an opening in our thoughts for God to enter into our consciousness. Prayer provides us the time to be open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit instead of the temptations of the Evil One.
- Determination to Persevere. There will always be peaks and valleys all along our spiritual journey. There will be times when we meet God on the mountaintop where our faith is solid and strong. But there will be many times when temptation is that bright, shiny object that we can’t seem to take our eyes
off of and the pull to “want it no matter the cost” takes hold and doesn’t let go. It’s during these times when we must stop, refocus, and remind ourselves that we are better than this. If we push ourselves to believe that what’s beyond the temptation is far better than the temptation itself, we will desire to want to eliminate the current allurement which may only bring a temporary thrill. Perseverance and patience is good for the soul.
Practice these three habits and the next time you face temptation you just may experience a different outcome and a sense of inner peace from doing the right thing.
So submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ~James 4:7
Are you facing temptation? Find out what to do here.
