ThinkSingPray
about
Temptation 3
Monday – No Fear, No Bitterness
Hymn: A Thankful Heart (recording) (printed)
Tuesday – Father, Save Us from Fear
Wednesday – Holy Pride
Hymn: Isn’t He Good? (recording) (printed)
Thursday – Lust
Friday – Self-centeredness
Hymn: Holy Father, Only You (recording) (printed)
Saturday – Luke 11:37-54
Hymn: Print Your Image (recording) (printed)
for more, visit
ThinkSingPray
at KenBible.com
ThinkSingPray
about
Temptation 2
Monday – I Look to You in Temptation
Hymn: Keep Us from All Evil (recording) (printed)
Tuesday – Slaves to a Lie 1
Hymn: Think, Speak, and Live the Truth (recording) (printed)
Wednesday – Slaves to a Lie 2
Hymn: Think, Speak, and Live the Truth (recording) (printed)
Thursday – The Full Armor of God 1
Hymn: Soldiers of Christ, Arise (recording) (printed)
Friday – The Full Armor of God 2
Hymn: Soldiers of Christ, Arise (recording) (printed)
Saturday – The Full Armor of God 3
Hymn: Soldiers of Christ, Arise (recording) (printed)
for more, visit
ThinkSingPray
at KenBible.com
ThinkSingPray
about
Temptation 1
Monday – An Introduction to Temptation
Hymn: The Blood-washed Pilgrim (recording) (printed)
Tuesday – Satan’s Tactics
Wednesday – The Tempter’s Strategy
Hymn: I Have the Truth (recording) (printed)
Thursday – The Temptation of Jesus
Friday – Hymn: With Jesus in Temptation (recording) (printed)
Saturday – Do You Recognize These Temptations?
for more, visit
ThinkSingPray
at KenBible.com
A prayer response to Revelation 17:1-6,
the doom of Babylon
Temptation comes
appearing to be alluring beauty,
pretending to provide something good,
offering pleasant and harmless stimulation.
But Father, help me to see evil for what it
really is and
always is:
destructive,
ugly,
cruel,
corrupt, and
deadly.
Its appeal is a pretense,
always shallow and
always a lie.
It is unable to give anything
good or
lasting.
It is impotent,
unwise,
unbeautiful, and
unloving.
The tempter is a sworn enemy of all that is good.
His purpose is always to
steal,
kill, and
destroy (John 10:10).
Following him always leads to
disappointment and
failure.
But Father, I cannot handle temptation on my own.
When it comes, help me to immediately
turn to You and
trust You to deliver me.
And when I fail,
help me to repent immediately,
knowing that You are always eager to
forgive and
restore completely.
You are good, Father, and
Your love endures forever!
Listen and sing:
Hymn: Soldiers of Christ, Arise
Recording
Printed Music & Lyrics
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 Corinthians 10:13, NIV)
If you remain in close contact with God, you are more likely to sense when temptation is intruding.
When it comes, go immediately to God. Don’t toy with the desire. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you (James 4:7). Remain in God’s presence in complete trust, humbly worshiping Him. Tell Him your weaknesses and struggles, and lovingly ask for His help.
The world, the flesh, and the Devil wage so fierce and constant a war that unless we depend on God, we will be dragged down. But in Him we always find the help we need.
Listen and sing:
Hymn: Do You Talk to the Lord?
Recording
Printed Music & Lyrics
by Brother Lawrence and Ken Bible
Too often we approach the Bible fearfully, with this question in mind: “How much would it cramp my lifestyle if I followed the Bible?” We seem to assume that we’ve already found the happiest way to live. We wonder how much we’d have to compromise that to please God.
But are we really perfectly happy? Doesn’t our loving Creator know the happiest, the best, the most natural way to live?
For example, Jesus spoke these words:
You have heard that it was said, “You shall not commit adultery.” But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (Matthew 5:27-28, NIV)
Seems like a tough standard, doesn’t it?
But if you’ve tasted lust, you know that it’s like any other addiction. It starts with an offer of pleasant stimulation. So simple. So innocent. But it’s progressive. It pulls you in, step by step. It demands more and more, and before you know it, you’re on a downhill slide with no power to stop.
The result: shame, humiliation, corrupted thoughts, and a tarnished relationship with the one dearest to you. Unless you find a way to uproot the lust, it will one day bear very bitter fruit.
So what is Jesus saying to us here? “If you want to do yourself one great big favor, don’t take that first look.”
If you’ve been down that road, you know the wisdom of what He’s saying: If you want to be happy with your mate, never allow yourself to be stimulated in any other direction. Even in our sex-soaked culture, that one simple principle applies. It’s practical. It works.
Focus all your love – body, mind, and spirit – on that person alone. Devote yourself to pleasing him or her. Reserve for yourself life’s greatest sexual pleasure: loving only one person for a lifetime.
That’s your Creator’s precious gift to you. Treasure it. Cherish it. Protect it.
And if you’ve traded that gift, turn back to Him. Repent and ask for forgiveness and restoration. You’ll find Him a God who loves to give second chances. He is glad to heal, renew, and restore.
Your Creator has a happier life for you. He really does.
Turn to Him. Trust Him.
Listen and sing:
Hymn: As I Trust You
Recording
Printed Music & Lyrics
from the devotional book, PICTURES OF GOD
2 Samuel 11:1-5
After a long conflict with Saul and Saul’s son, David was fully and finally king. God had firmly established his rule and had promised that his dynasty would last forever. David was a success.
But the challenges never stop as long as we’re in this life. This challenge came from a totally unexpected source. The Tempter rarely enters with a trumpet fanfare. Notice how David’s sin begins:
We all face temptations. They will change, but they will never go away in this life. But remember:
No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:13, NASB)
Turn to God immediately. Don’t wait.
No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:13, NASB)
Father, when I handle temptation in my own strength,
the result is failure and frustration.
The harder I fight, the more entangled I get
in the web of my own weakness.
Teach me to do all I can to flee temptation,
but when it comes,
let me hear it immediately as a call
to look to You,
to trust my needs to You,
to rest in You,
my Father,
my Creator,
my loving Savior.
Listen and sing:
Hymn: Keep Us from All Evil
Recording
Printed Music & Lyrics
Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers…He too shared in their humanity…He had to be made like his brothers in every way.
(Hebrews 2:11, 14, 17, NIV)
We tend to think of God as being radically different from us, living in another realm. And in a sense, that’s true.
But I’m startled to realize I can relate to God as a fellow human being. My emotions, my weaknesses, the drives I struggle to understand and control—he has lived through them all, day by day, just as I am doing. He doesn’t understand humans in a detached sense. He is one. He knows exactly how we feel.
Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. (Hebrews 2:18, NIV)
Before I confide in someone, I want to be sure that person can understand what I’m experiencing. I need to know he or she will be sympathetic. Otherwise I won’t make myself vulnerable. When I’m hurting and ashamed, the last thing I want is a critical attitude staring back at me.
But I can be perfectly open with Jesus. He is my Brother, and I know He understands. I can be honest about all my personal problems, knowing that His only attitude toward me is love—always, only love.
More than that, He helps. Whenever I have looked to Him and trusted Him in times of temptation, He has always given me just the strength I need for that moment. And when I need guidance, He gladly gives it, Person to person.
We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:15-16, NIV)
We can always come to Him with confidence. Do you realize how wonderful that is? No matter how small the dilemma, if you care, He cares. If you face a temptation you’d be ashamed to share with anyone, you can be open with Him and know He will understand and guide you through it.
And if you’ve sinned and are struggling with the guilt, you can still come to Him with confidence. Hard to believe, but true. If you’ll trust Him, His forgiveness is immediate and completely free.
His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
(Lamentations 3:22-23, NIV)
He has broken down all the walls between Him and you—the walls of human weakness, of time and space, of all your sins and your guilt. You can look into His face, bringing your temptations and your failures, knowing He is mercy and strength and unbroken love.
Praise to You, Lord!
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone.’” [Deuteronomy 8:3]
The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours.”
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’” [Deuteronomy 6:13]
The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. For it is written: ‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” [Psalm 91:11-12]
Jesus answered, “It says: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” [Deuteronomy 6:16]
When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time. (Luke 4:1-13, NIV)
The Heavenly Father drove His own beloved Son, with Whom He was thoroughly pleased, into the desert alone, for 40 days without food, to be tempted by His bitter enemy, Satan, who wanted only Jesus’ destruction.
How different is our Heavenly Father’s treatment of His children compared to us human parents! We do anything we can to spare our children unpleasant circumstances. The Father, knowing what is best for us and how much we can bear, regularly exposes His children to various types of pressure and need. We tend to focus on our children’s temporary comfort and preferences. Our Father focuses on our character and eternal well-being. We shouldn’t squirm or complain like selfish children when He puts us through difficult-but-necessary preparations for His service.
Here Satan tried to turn Jesus away from His Father. Knowing that the key to Jesus’ power was His relationship with His Father, Satan tried to separate them. He tried to turn Jesus toward His own needs.
Jesus stayed focused on His Father. In His responses to Satan, He always spoke of the Father’s will. That was His constant concern.
That is also our key in temptation. When you first sense Satan’s approach, turn to your Father. Ask for His provision, His will, and His glory. Nothing can shake you if you depend on Him.
I have set the Lord always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.
(Psalm 16:8, NIV)
Listen…and sing if you want:
Hymn: With Jesus in Temptation
Recording
Printed Music & Lyrics
