5 Practical keys to Overcoming Temptations

The devil is constantly sneaking, seeking to devour Spirit-filled Christians. Much of his assaults come in the form of temptations designed to get us to quit the path ordained for us by God to walk in.

The book of Luke chapter four recorded how Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness. He knew how hungry Jesus was because he had been fasting for forty days.

Satan said to him: “If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.” Immediately, Jesus knew this was a setup.

He countered the devil by quoting from Deuteronomy 8: 3: “…man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.”

It is interesting to note that Satan often uses one’s weakness as a basis to launch his assault. Like Jesus, we must arm ourselves with the word of God as a bulwark against Satan’s vicious attack.

The Word of God is the secret of Jesus’s victory over Satan. He understood well that the word of God is a strong defence in moments of weakness and vulnerability. Thus, if we desire to be victorious when tempted, we must do these five things:

1. BE GROUNDED IN THE WORD OF THE LORD

“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Matthew 26:41

A lot of believers today who survive only on the preaching they hear from their Pastors every Sunday. It is the responsibility of every Christian to become rooted and grounded in the word of God. We are not to depend on the preaching of the man of God alone.

To survive any temptation, we must do all we can to WATCH as Jesus commanded us to. The Greek word for ‘watch’ in Matthew 26:41 is: “grégoreó”; it means to be awake.

When we are full of the word of God, our spirit will become awakened and alive to counter Satan’s creepiness. Nothing will take us by surprise because our spirit-man is always at alert. We live in an age of information and technology.

It is becoming difficult to find time to study the word of God.  We spend more time nowadays on social media, electronic media, newspapers than we spend in the word of God.

We no longer depend on the Bible as our source of inspiration. Youtube and Google are fast becoming our source and point of reference.

No wonder many of God’s people are now falling prey to all manner of deception and heresy going on in the world!

It is high time we returned to the Bible. It is the everlasting word of God that has the power to save and deliver in every season.

2. BE GROUNDED IN THE FEAR OF THE LORD

” The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”  Proverbs 1:7

Satan is very cunning and creepy. It will take anyone with a higher level of wisdom to beat him at his game; he’s been around for a while.

As believers living in this physical world, we cannot take on Satan with our human strength. Our only chance of overcoming him is when we operate in the wisdom of God.

Satan is a creation of God. He’s smart, wise, cunning and creepy. But, his smartness and creepiness cannot in a million years withstand the wisdom and power of our God.

Let me share here an incident that reinforces this topic. In my second year at the Polytechnic Ibadan in 2003, I received an invitation to sing at a church in Ibadan.

Because I needed someone to do a backup while I sing, I invited a female classmate who happened to be a classmate at the Polytechnic together. During rehearsal, my friend suddenly grabbed me from behind and was shaking.

Immediately, I knew I was in big trouble. We were supposed to be rehearsing and getting prepared to go and minister. Shocked, and confused, I didn’t what to do or say at that moment. Seconds later, I  said these words: “…I have a lot of respect for you and wouldn’t do anything that breaks that respect.”

I held her and we both left the room immediately. The event of that evening reminded me of the story of Joseph while he was in Potiphar’s house.

The woman of the house had set her eyes on Joseph. When an opportunity presented itself, she took hold of his robe and attempted to sleep with him.

But Joseph feared God in his heart; he refused to succumb to the temptation to commit adultery. He ran as fast as he could from the house.

If the fear of God is in our heart, it will be difficult for any temptation to get a hold of us.

3. RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN

Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. 1 Corinthians 6:18

When it comes to sexual temptation, the Bible encourages us to run as fast as we can. To think that prayer will bail us out when tempted sexually is foolishness and not wisdom.

When facing sexual temptation pray silently but run as fast as you can. In 1995, a year after I finished matric, I was at Ile-Ife working in a private school.

One morning, I sat at the library of the man of God that brought me to Ile-Ife. The house girl of the house had complained to the man of God about a strange person that came to the compound a day before.

So, the man of God told me to stay at home to make sure the lady and the little baby in the house are safe.

While paging through the books at the library, the house girl went inside the room, took off her clothes and stood right behind me.

When facing sexual temptation pray silently but run as fast as you can. In 1995, a year after I finished matric, I was at Ile-Ife working in a private school.

One morning, I sat at the library of the man of God that brought me to Life. The house girl of the house had complained of a strange person that came to the compound a day before.

The moment I saw her shadow in front of me, I looked back, stood up and made a run through the front door. She ran inside the room.

A moment later when I came back into the house, she began apologizing saying she didn’t know I was still in the house. Anyway, her apology did not matter because she knew exactly what she was doing.

the word of God encourages us to run away from sexual sin. Don’t quote scriptures or speak in tongues when all you need to do is to run from the scene.

4. UNDERSTAND YOUR WEAKNESS

“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Matthew 26:41

We all have weaknesses! A clear understanding of one’s weakness will help prevent fallibility into temptation.

Judas had a weakness for money, he was eventually consumed by it. Samson’s weakness was women, a woman caused his downfall. Our weakness, if not carefully dealt with can ultimately lead to our destruction.

Our flesh is a weakling when it comes to standing up against temptation.  Thus, it needs continuous discipline to face-off with temptation.

A man who has shown weakness in handling money cannot be trusted to handle finances. Otherwise, like Judas and Achan, he will bring destruction on himself and shame on his family.

If you have a weakness for women, why would you want to stand alone in awkward places where no eyes can see with any woman? “Wisdom is profitable to direct.” Ecclesiastes 10:10.

5. USE A DIVERSIONARY TACTIC

Another way to overcome temptation is to use a diversionary tactic when facing temptation. Often, people fall into temptation because they fail to take their minds off negative thoughts.

I remember in 1998 while working in a small village named Ijare, in Ondo State, Nigeria as a local Pastor.  There was a lady there who was a member of my Church.  Each time I set my eyes on her, a spirit of lust came over me. I battled with this spirit for some time.

One day, I packed a few of my clothes in a sack and ran out of the city. I went back to my local fellowship called ‘FECA’ in Akure and discussed the problem with one of the leaders who prayed with me. That was how I escaped.

I spent some time in Akure and by the time I returned to Ijare, the temptation was no longer there.  A lot of people battled with porn addiction. They spent lots of time praying but will never do away with their phone or computer for a while. You cannot beat a devil you continue to entertain.

Conclusion

Greater is he that is in us than all the powers of the world. When we set our hearts on doing what is right in the sight of the Lord, He provides a way of escape in all our temptations. Practice these steps and see God work miracles of deliverance in all your struggles. Cheers!

 

 

Faith Hope Success in Ministry