I bought Oreos and beef jerky for my husband’s birthday. Knowing that he would eat them right away if he saw them, I hid them in a box. I hid them because I know he finds them “just too hard to resist!” But then I forgot which box. I searched everywhere and couldn’t find them. I even wondered if HE had found them already. We found them six months later!

What do you do to resist temptation? Do you try not to shop hungry? Do you try to distract yourself with a hobby? Or do you call a friend? Although these are all healthy ways to maintain self-control, turning to our dearest friend, Jesus, is the best choice when we are threatened with a temptation that can lead us into a sin that can destroy our life or family. God is always with us, always listening, and always, always faithful.

God also knows our strengths and weaknesses. He sees all things, including our sins and our struggles. He knows our limitations and he promises to help us fight against those things that wish to take us away from him. God is always patient with us, always ready to bring us back to him when we repent and ask for forgiveness.

In the Lord’s prayer, we pray “lead us not into temptation”. We are not saying that God is the one luring us into sin, however. Instead, we pray that when we are tempted, God will help us fight it. In Martin Luther’s catechism, he explains it this way: “we pray that God would guard and keep us, so that the devil, the world and our flesh may not deceive us or lead us into false belief, despair and other great and shameful sins; and though we are tempted by them, we pray that we may overcome and win the victory”. (Luther’s Catechism, Northwestern Publishing House, 2017)

God encourages us to pray, asking for help to resist sin and the devil’s temptations. In fact, it would be impossible to fight off these things without God’s help. It’s only through God’s mercy and love that we fight against the struggles of this world. It’s only though the perfect life, the agonizing death, and brilliant resurrection of Jesus that we can approach God with confidence that he will love and forgive us. We can pray confidently that God will hear us and help us. How happy God is to help us “win the victory” when we are tempted by sin!