Series: “Connecting with God” - Part 7
"The Prayer of Deliverance"
Pastor Jerry
1 Corinthians 10:12-13
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I assume that you came to Church with the good intentions to have a blessed day. But will it be so? If you came with good intentions, why would it end up by doing things that you know are bad for you?
If your life is going to break free from the stuff that messes you up, it’s going to take more than good intentions. Good intentions with no positive follow-through leads to hypocrisy. That’s why we need to talk about temptation, prayer and deliverance.
We often think temptation is an enticement to do something evil, wicked, and nasty; the really bad stuff – murder, adultery, lying. But actually Satan is much more subtle than that.
You can train your mind to think that certain things aren’t so bad.
The truth is temptation is a lot more subtle than we think it is. But the answer to overcome the temptations that we experience in life is to pray the
Prayer of Deliverance (which is):
“Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.” The
Prayer of Deliverance always leads us to the path of escape.
What is the path of escape? 1 Corinthians 10:13
“The temptations that come into your life are no different from what others experience.” We all have the same basic temptations in life. Some of your temptations are more unique but temptation is not unique. We all get tempted. They’re not any different.
Then he says
“And God is faithful. He will keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can’t stand up against it.” God says I will always make a way out. The truth is temptation is a choice.
Temptation is a choice to do right or to do wrong. So, make the right choices! What are the steps of the path of escape using the
Prayer of Deliverance.
- I must identify what makes me vulnerable.
Notice I didn’t say identify what tempts you.
You already know what tempts you. But what causes you to be tempted by that. What makes you vulnerable to that temptation? Jesus said in Matthew 26:41
“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing but the body is weak.” In other words, you may be willing, you may want to overcome your temptation but will power is not enough. Jesus says, watch and pray!
You can’t just pray. You have to watch. What do you need to watch for? You need to watch for the circumstances that make you vulnerable.
So where do the temptations in your life come from? Some are caused by nature, some by nurture, some by your environment, some by your character, and some by your circumstance. What I am saying is this:
you don’t get to choose your temptations. The implication of that is you cannot be self-righteous about anybody else’s temptation. So when you see somebody who’s tempted by whatever temptation: the fact is they’re all the same thing. One is no better or less evil than the other. The Bible says sin is sin. What I’m saying is you have a pattern of vulnerability and you better figure out what it is. Because I want to tell you for sure, Satan knows what it is. You need to know what your emotional triggers are.
- I must Plan to avoid it.
You don’t wait until you’re in the situation to decide am I going to give in to this or not? No, you decide before your emotions kick in to gear. The Bible says
“Plan carefully what you do. Avoid evil. Walk straight ahead. Don’t go one step off the right way.” Temptation always begins with a natural desire in you. So temptation, what it does, it turns a routine desire into a runaway desire. Wrong time, wrong way, wrong amount. Any good God-given desire out of control becomes a sin.
- Step number three: I must guard my heart.
This is very important because the Bible says that out of the heart everything comes. Out of the heart a man speaks and all of the issues of life.
“Above all else, guard your heart, for it affects everything you do.” Prov. 4:23 (NLT) Temptation always starts inside of you. The trigger is on the outside but the temptation is actually inside you. The Bible says in James 1:14
“We are tempted by our own desires that drag us off and trap us.” And look at this next verse,
“It is inside you, out of a person’s heart come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, the desire to kill people, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceitfulness, lust, envy, slander, arrogance, and foolishness. All these vile things come from not outside, but inside.”
The Bible says,
“Do not give the devil a foothold.” How do you give the devil a foothold? It’s a mental state, a negative emotion. The longer you hold onto a negative emotion, you are allowing the evil one to get a hold in your life.
- The fourth thing needed is I must pray for deliverance.
What I mean by that is just ask for God’s help. The Bible tells us that God is ready to help. He says we’re to pray
“Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.” That is the
Prayer of Deliverance. You ask God for help. The Bible is full of examples of people who’ve prayed for deliverance. God provides assistance for anybody who asks.
You can expect God to help you when you pray because God has promised it. Psalm 50:15
“Call upon me in your day of trouble. I will deliver you and you will honor me.” You can just say
“Help!” God, I need to pray.
God knows everything that’s going on in your life. He knows the things that tempt you. In fact, look at this verse.
“Jesus understands our weakness for he faced all the same temptations we do yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to our gracious God and then we will receive his mercy and grace to help us when we need it.” Jesus understands. Why? Jesus faced the same temptations. The Bible says he was tempted in all ways as we yet he sinned not. That’s the difference.
He never gave in. He had the freedom to choose.
Jesus had the freedom to choose, even at the cross. In the garden of Gethsemane he’s praying and he’s struggling with it. He says
“Father, not my will, not my will but yours be done.” Jesus had a choice. John 6:38 he says,
“I didn’t come to do my will. I came to do the will of the Father.” He was God in a human body. But even better is he never sinned. He can help you overcome.
- I must turn my attention elsewhere.
I change the direction of my thoughts. I refocus on something else. That’s what you need to do when temptation comes up. Here’s the secret to temptation: don’t fight it. Just refocus. Did you know in the Bible not once are you told to resist temptation? We are told to resist the devil and that’s a whole different issue. The key to overcoming temptation is not push back the temptation. It’s just change my focus.
Whatever gets your attention gets you. The battle for sin always starts in the mind. That’s why the Bible says,
“Thinking about your commands will keep me from doing some foolish thing.” Why? Because if I’m thinking about your commands, if I’m thinking about truth, I’m not thinking about the dumb stuff I could be doing.
If you focus on good things in life, godly things in life, true things in life, it’s going to pull you in that direction. If you focus on bad things in life, dishonest things, false things, it’s going to pull you in that direction. Whatever you focus on gets your attention. Whatever gets your attention is going to get you.
I don’t know if you’ve realized this but the more you think about something the more it upsets you. By the time you’ve thought it over and over, it just gets bigger and bigger and bigger. So whatever is tempting you, whether it’s food, or gossip, or sex, or anything else. Whatever you focus on is going to pull you that direction. So the key is to just change your mind.
So you don’t fight a temptation, you just turn your mind to something else.
“We capture every thought and make it obey Christ.” Friends, that’s the secret to temptation, but we’re not good at that. We’re not very good at – capturing every thought and turning it to Christ. If you change the way you think, it changes the way you feel and that will change the way you act. Romans 12:21
“Don’t let evil conquer you but conquer evil with good.” Fill your mind with truth, good thoughts, good things and it pushes out all of the junk in your mind. This pattern of thinking is not easy. But it is possible. It takes practice! You can learn how to do it.
Following Christ does not exempt you from temptation. And on this earth you’re never going to be sinless. But it is possible to sin
less. James 5
“My dear friends, if you know people who’ve wandered off from God’s truth don’t write them off. Go after them. Get them back and you will have rescued precious lives.” Friends, do you know somebody in your life who’s struggling right now who needs your help and you need to go after them? If you love them, you’ll go after them and love them unconditionally and listen to their confession and turn their eyes away from their sins and turn their eyes upon Jesus and help bring them back.
