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Step Seven: And lead us not into temptation
Learning Things The Hard Way
Learning About Free Will
And lead us not: Jesus, help me ask God to take leadership in my life. Help me also ask Him to not allow me to go into things that would cause me to sin. Since God is a good God, I need You to help me understand why I would need to ask Him to not lead me in the direction of temptation. Make it clear to me that God isn’t like Satan; He doesn’t make me do His will. He honors my God-given free will and will allow me to go places He doesn’t want me to go.
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Thinking We Know What Is Best
Jesus, since there are two ways for me to learn life lessons from You, help me choose the best one. Teach me that the best way is for me to give You permission to teach me the things I need to know without me having to learn the hard way. When I want a certain job, a certain deal, a certain relationship with a certain person, a certain house, a certain car, a certain amount of income, etc., I may find myself insisting that God LET me go in that direction. Teach me that God will honor my will while letting me know I am doing the wrong thing.
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God Doesn’t Want You Led Into Temptation
Jesus, teach me that when God “leads” me during a time when I take myself into temptation, He isn’t wanting me to be tempted; He isn’t tempting me; He isn’t even wanting to have to “LEAD” me while I am in there. It is a moment where God does allow me to insist on going there. BUT, because I am His child and pray this part of this prayer on a regular basis, I will NOT go back into Satan’s total control. I will go there under God’s rules, limits, and discipline. I have opened the door to Satan; but, God limits his control over me; and, God uses this time to discipline me.
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Learning A Painful Lesson
Jesus, I am thankful that I don’t lose my relationship with God, if I think I know what is best for me; thank You that I don’t get turned back over to Satan. Instead my heavenly Father disciplines me during these times of rebellion. I am taught a very important lesson about the incredible knowledge, foreknowledge about the future, understanding, and wisdom of God. If I yield to the training during these times of my rebellion, I will learn the hard way that God was resisting my decision for a VERY good reason; help me learn this very important lesson.
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Learning The Best Way
Jesus, sometimes I get pretty hard headed. Sometimes I have to learn things by going out and committing sins and paying the consequences. But, teach me that there is a much better way of handling my rebellious attitude. When I find myself struggling with doing things God’s way, help me realize that all I have to do is take it to You and ask for Your power to help me do it God’s way. You will give me the power and the wisdom to avoid having to learn the hard way.
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We Have To Be Able To Be Led
There Are A Lot Of Things We Don’t Know
Jesus, help me see that God wants me to have a teachable attitude so He can just tell me things. He would like for me to take His new training information and start praying and asking for the power to be able to get it into my life. But, because I come into this relationship with God and don’t completely trust Him yet, help me accept the fact that I do need to pray this part of this prayer so I can be protected.
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YIELDING To Temptation
Jesus, I am thankful that God has committed Himself to honoring my decisions. I am glad that He is determined to maintain my God-given freedom of will. In order for me to be human and not a slave or a robot, He allows me to be led into a tough situation where the temptations to sin and do wrong are strong. Teach me that God, Himself will never tempt me to sin. However, He will allow me to go my own way for a time. During this time He makes sure I don’t get tempted and not have a way out. Let me see what being allowed to go into temptation under supervision looks like.
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God Disciplines Those Who Want It
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it (1 Cor 10:13). Jesus, help me understand that God will make sure the temptation I yield to won’t be some strange, unique temptation that no one has ever seen before; He will remain faithful to me; He won’t let it be overwhelming; and, He will always provide me a way out. But, if I will pray this part of this prayer and get Jesus’ power, I will be able to avoid most of them.
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Temptation
Get Jesus’ Power To Not YIELD In The First Place
Jesus, help me see that the temptation to do wrong, bad, or evil things is strong inside me. When I yield to temptation, addictive pleasures come my way. I even get pleasure from simple wrong, bad, or evil things. I get pleasure out simple things such as talking about someone or bawling them out. It is hard to explain why I get pleasure out of hurting people’s reputations or feelings. But, it can all be traced back to the spiritual disease of sin. Help me resist all of these temptations so I don’t have to learn things the hard way.
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Get Jesus’ Power To Resist The Motivation
Jesus, some aspects of the sin disease pushed me toward making myself look good at other’s expense. Some aspects of the sin disease actually involve me hurting myself. Help me see that things like drug and alcohol abuse tear away at my body and brain. Why I would sin against my own body and hurt my own life is quite a puzzle. Make it clear to me that I need this prayer to help keep me from hurting myself and others.
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Asking God To Heal Your Rebellion
If you are ready to be set free from yielding to these and other temptations to hurt yourself and those around you, then pray this portion of this prayer. Say: “Lead us not into temptation.” Then say: “Lead me not into temptation.”
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Step Eight: But deliver us from the evil one
Satan Used To Control You
The evil one, Satan: Jesus, teach me that this part of Your prayer is me praying for a transfer of control. I am praying for a deliverance from Satan’s control over me and my life. By accepting You as my Savior, Lord, and King of my life, I am doing this to be set free from my old god, boss, lord, and tyrant. Show me that I am not just getting You, I am being set free from a control that will not honor my God-given free will. Satan, the evil one, was tempting me, pushing me, deceiving me, addicting me, and creating lifestyle habits that I couldn’t control.
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Now That You Are Joining Jesus, Satan Can’t Control You; But, He Can Still Tempt You
Deliver us from the evil one: Jesus, help me understand that this deliverance has two parts to it:
- First, it is a prayer for a deliverance from Satan’s control over me. I am inviting You to drive Satan out of my mind and heart where he has been luring, driving, misleading, and deceiving me. I am asking for You to un-train me concerning who is now in control of my life. When I pray this part of this prayer I will belong to You; I will no longer be under Satan’s power. He won’t be able to force me to do anything I don’t want to do. You will be available to me anytime I want You to bring control, power, and deliverance to me.
- Second, I am making this prayer a daily practice. I am asking You to deliver me from those things Satan tries to tempt me with all during my day. I am asking for Your power, training, and relationship so You and I can work together to defeat all efforts of Satan against me.
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Satan Has The Right To Tempt You
Your Battle Isn’t Against You
The evil one, Satan: Jesus, help me understand that most of the pressure I am experiencing to do bad, unloving things to myself and the people around me comes from the evil one, Satan. Not only that, but, most of the bad things that happen to me circumstantially come from him. The bad “luck,” difficult circumstances, and temptations to sin typically come from him.
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Satan Doesn’t Come As Himself
Jesus, teach me that thoughts and feelings pop up in my mind and heart that feel like they are self-generated. Teach me that even after I become a Christian, I can still think and feel things that You are against. Satan can still cause me to think and feel anger, hatred, frustration, jealousy, covetousness, greed, lust, and all kinds of other wrong, bad, or evil things. It can seem like I am still under Satan’s control.
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It All Has To Do With Power
Jesus, make it clear to me that the difference between being born again and not being born again is, I will no longer have to yield to those things Satan tempts me with; they are no longer a part of me. They are no longer MY thoughts and feelings; they are coming from outside of me. They aren’t what I think and feel; they are thoughts and feelings Satan is trying to get me to accept.
Jesus, help me realize that these “flash” temptations that pop up in my mind and heart are not coming from me; they are temptations that You will give me the power to resist. All I will have to do is pray this part of this prayer and You will give me the power to resist.
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Asking For Two Types Of Deliverance:
If you want the two aspects of deliverance, then go ahead and pray this portion of the prayer. Say: “Deliver us from the evil one.” Then say: “Deliver me from the evil one.”
Jesus, teach me that every time I pray this, I am asking God to not only deliver ME but to deliver all the other people on earth from Satan’s control over their lives. If they will receive Your answer to my prayer, their life will become as meaningful and blessed as my is.
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You Are Now Ready To Start
Trying Christianity Out
You Are Now A Child Of God!
Congratulations! Through this prayer from Jesus, you have just accepted Jesus as your Savior, Lord, and King. And, you have asked your heavenly Father to make you His child and a citizen in His Kingdom. He is now ready to start answering all your other prayers as you begin your life as a new Christian. This will be a time for you to try it all out and see if you want to become a permanent member of His family and Kingdom.
Don’t Stop Studying
Jesus has helped us commit to helping you experience all the blessings and provisions of God. You will discover that new power will come inside you as you face your difficulties with drugs and other things. Your victories over your struggles with drugs will all come from your success with spiritual principles. The main problems you will run into concerning these spiritual principles have been covered in Jesus’ parable of the sower that tossed seeds out on four types of soil conditions. They represented the four reactions people have to God’s good news about His Kingdom.
If you need to go back to “How To GET The Power-Life” Week One and read over them again, it might be a good idea. As you run into other problems, Jesus will be providing you with very important resources on this website. If you continue to move forward in these studies, Jesus will have you ready to defeat those things that come your way. Follow Jesus’ guidelines that we are providing you for getting the help you need.
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