We have to apply this lesson to our lives, or we miss the whole point of it. Does Jesus know what we are about to encounter? Does He know the temptations that we are about to experience? Yes, He does! And He wants to prepare us for them in advance through our relationship with Him in prayer. Be sensitive to the Lord when He calls you to go further with Him in prayer. In these times, expect Him to reveal more of Himself to you; more of His purposes, and more of His will. He will prepare you for any thing that is coming to test your faith.
Never forget that God will also be faithful to come to your life as you seek Him in prayer, and do not lose heart. He may not send an angel to minister to you, but He will come and strengthen you, bringing victory through your life and accomplishing His will.
Praying for protection is not just for the times when you are struggling with sin and you cry out for God’s help. We pray for protection before we need it! On the night before Jesus went to the cross, after He taught the disciples so many powerful truths in John 13 through 15, He made this incredible statement John 16:1 “These things have I spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble.” He gave them this instruction so that they would not stumble in what was waiting ahead of them. He wants to instruct us for everything that awaits us, if we will come to Him in prayer.
The emphasis from Jesus on using prayer to guard against temptation is reinforced in the pattern of prayer that He taught the disciples. In Like 11:4 the closing words of the model prayer are these “And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” Every day we face temptation. There is no end to the type of temptation we face, as our sin nature rises up and demands our interests and our way of thinking that is opposed to God’s way of thinking. Whenever we sin against God, we are putting our desires and our thinking above God’s instruction. Then we are no longer serving God or fulfilling His will for our lives. How do we protect ourselves against this? It is through prayer.
When you consider the struggles withy temptations and sin in your own life, what part are you letting prayer to play in your life? How much time and energy are you willing to devote in prayer to get victory over sin in your life? In John 17:15 Jesus made this request for His followers: “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.” We are to stay in the world as His witnesses, but that will only bring trials and hard challenges into our lives. The enemy is real and he wants to destroy your effectiveness as Christians. Because of this Jesus instructed and encouraged all His disciples to pray for the Father’s protection.
People start out following the Lord, but if they fall down in their prayer they are not ready for the temptations they face. They need to be asking the Father to keep them from stumbling in temptation and for deliverance from evil. This does not mean we instantly get kind of an automatic protection against falling away. But by going to the Father regularly and asking for His protection, we will greatly strengthen our lives from failing the test of stumbling in our Dily walk with God.
The words of Jesus in the garden in Luke 22:40 are needed today more than ever. “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” Are you protecting yourself, are you protecting your family, are you protecting your church from falling into temptation through active prayer to the Father? If not, do not be surprised if you are overtaken by sin.