“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 Corinthians 10:13).
By John David Hicks
In the Middle Ages there was a castle known as the “Greatest Castle Ever Built.” It had the best defenses against any siege and some of the best soldiers guarding it. Yet in a period of 100 years it was captured more than 10 times. How was that possible?
The castle had a secret exit passage that few knew about. When the castle was under siege for a period of time, one person would slip out through the secret passage, find the commander of the enemy army, and make a deal for his life and wealth. The betrayer would then lead a small group of soldiers through the secret passage, who would overpower the main gates and let the besieging army in.
It was the desires and cravings of a Judas spirit that would doom the “Greatest Castle Ever Built” every time.
To be an overcomer, you must be totally surrendered to the lordship of Jesus Christ. That is why, when you will not give up something, God must make that the condition of your salvation. For example, the rich young ruler failed the test to surrender money, which was his god.
A trial is different from temptation. God tests your character. Trials bring out your character; they make you say, “I will do the right and noble thing. I will not be hindered by the fact that this is hard or painful.”
Although we have no wish to be in a place where the tests might lead to sin, we recognize that they will strengthen us since they train our character.
Trials and temptations are the means by which God imparts faith and relationship. Without them, there is no bonding and love cannot be perfected. The difference between trials and temptations is their source: God, for the purpose of maturing our character, and Satan, for the purpose of destroying us. Thus, God tests your faith. What should be your attitude to these trials? “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:2-4). “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed” (1 Peter 1:6-7).
You are not only a spiritual person made in the image of God but also a moral being. God has endowed you with reason and a conscience and given you moral boundaries with the power to choose. Thus, you can be tempted to sin against God. No one is immune from temptation.
In 1986, Gordon MacDonald, the president of Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship, was asked, “If Satan were to blow you out of the water, how do you think he would do it?”
“I’m not sure I know, all sorts of ways, I suppose,” MacDonald said. “But I know there’s one way he wouldn’t get me. He’d never get me in the area of my personal relationships with my family. That’s one place where I have no doubt I’m strong as you can get.”
Within two years, this godly, respected leader was a fallen, defeated man. He had committed adultery against his wife and nearly lost everything he had. “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12 nasb).
The devil is called the tempter (Matthew 4:3; 1 Thessalonians 3:5). He is out to destroy your faith and to damn you in hell. The pleasures of sin are temporary, but obedience has an eternal reward. Jesus called Satan the thief that has come to “steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10). He wants to steal every blessing, kill your body, and destroy relationships. Sin has pleasure for a season, and then it will make you guilty, shameful, remorseful, bitter, and resentful.
Satan’s perfect hatred of us, and of God, is revealed when he plays first the role of tempter, and then after you have sinned the role of your accuser—demanding that God in his holiness punish your sin. Satan accuses and condemns you for the very sin he has urged you to commit! Detecting this strategy can strengthen your resolve to resist every temptation and to step into the power of Christ’s victory over all the seductions of the enemy. An army or person that is prepared for battle is hard to defeat. Overcoming temptations is a skill every believer must learn. It is essential to breaking any addiction and living effectively for God.
So how do you overcome temptation?
Remember that temptation is not sin until you give in. Satan’s trap is to get you to give up before you have even begun the descent into the steps to sin.
There are five steps in dealing with temptation:
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Ask God to help you recognize when you are being tempted.
Temptation is defined as: (1) An enticement to do wrong by a promise of pleasure or gain. (2) A desire or craving for something considered wrong. (3) A trial or TEST demonstrating integrity or unrighteousness. Basically, temptation is an enticement or allurement to fulfill a God-given desire or drive in a God-forbidden way. Thus, resisting temptation will refine your character and establish your faith, or it will defeat you.
“Since you are his child, God has made you his heir” (Galatians 4:7 nlt). Satan wants to prevent you from receiving your inheritance by making you a slave to sin. Your inheritance includes dominion over the earth (Genesis 1:26-28) and a personal relationship with God (John 1:12). These rights were forfeited when Adam and Eve sinned and were separated from God. “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23) and bondage to Satan resulted (Romans 6:16). But God the Father sent Jesus Christ as our Savior (John 3:16) to restore our relationship and inheritance.
James tells you that it’s lust that opens the door of temptation to the world, the flesh, and the devil. “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’ For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death” (James 1:12-15).
God does not tempt you with evil. In fact in the Lord’s Prayer we are told to pray: “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” It is better for you to avoid temptation than to be defeated by it. God knows what you can bear. “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).
The Process of Temptation
There are five steps that motivate you into action and establish your destiny. They can be positive to achieve God’s calling on your life, or negative to destroy your life. Satan uses the negative side to tempt you. The first step is thought. Your thoughts move into imagination, the second step. Imagination feeds desire, the third step. Desire powers action, the fourth step. Repeated actions establish the fifth step, habit. A habit will determine your character and destiny.
To overcome temptation you must stop it at the first two steps. If the temptation reaches desire, the motivation will move you into action where it is difficult to stop the sin because your emotions are stronger than your reason. Scripture commands to “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5) before it reaches desire.
You are warned in Scripture to watch out for your unrestrained thoughts! As soon as a thought turns into desire, it entices you to do something that you know you should not do—the temptation has begun! Those thoughts want to move into your imagination to be entertained and explored. At this point you are contemplating sin. When you entertain evil thoughts, you engage the power of your imaginations and create sin. Jesus acknowledged this principle of “thought sin” in Matthew 5:28—anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has committed adultery with her in his heart. Jesus went on to say that hating another person is basically the same as murder (Matthew 5:21-22). Even Lucifer’s sin began in his thought life (Isaiah 14:13-14; Ezekiel 28:15-17).
The more you entertain your thoughts, the stronger the desire and cravings come to commit sin. Rationalization now gives power to your will and it is next to impossible to stop your action. Repeated actions establish an addiction orhabit. Your character is being formed.
Let’s consider Eve’s temptation in the Garden:
- Satan conceals himself and his character (Genesis 3:1a).
- Satan always questions God’s Word and His goodness (v. 1b).
- Satan will deny God’s Word (v. 4). He contradicts what God said, “You will not surely die.” It is interesting that Jesus overcame His temptations by believing in the authority of God’s Word, “It is written…” (Matthew 4:4).
You have a choice to believe God’s Word, or Satan’s lies (John 6:29).
Since Satan cannot force you to sin, he uses clever lies, aimed at your weaknesses. You see this when Eve is tempted to become “wise.” Her desire for wisdom and the fruit’s attractiveness was the appealing combination that enticed her to sin (Genesis 3:6). The thought is fanned into desire to eat the fruit, which God has forbidden. You too are continually bombarded with desires to commit sin: to be self-centered; to cheat on your taxes; to take revenge on your enemies; to lust after another person or things; to lie.
When Eve entertains the thought, her imagination is turned into desire and she thinks of the benefits of the sin—“if I eat the forbidden fruit I will get wisdom and be like God.” So Eve rationalized her sin. But Adam in essence said, “Everybody’s doing it.”
Do you rationalize your sin? “I will ask God to forgive me. God wants me to have a little fun in life. This sin is not too serious.” But after Adam and Eve sinned, they hid from God, afflicted with guilt, shame, remorse, and broken relationships. Sin separates you from God, and Satan wants you to feel this alienation.
To conquer temptation you must first deal with your thought life before it goes into desire. David shows us that even the most godly of men can fall. We all have weaknesses; no one is perfect, not even David. Martin Luther said, “The idle mind is the playground of the devil.” David’s story is about an idle mind and a good man’s self-deception that starts with rationalizations for his sinful actions.
For a Christian there can be no illusion, no pretense, and no lies. “For a man’s ways are in full view of the Lord, and he examines all his paths. The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him; the cords of his sin hold him fast. He will die for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly” (Proverbs 5:21-23). You cannot lie to God. Self-deception is an attempt to deceive yourself and God. When you violate your conscience, sin is at the door (1 John 3:21).
A common deception is the lie of neutrality. You can easily convince yourself that by giving in to temptation you are not rejecting God or choosing Satan, but staying neutral and just pursuing your own desires. In reality nothing could please Satan more than pursuing your own path—not realizing that every path apart from Christ is a path to sin, Satan, and destruction. There is no neutrality. You must see saying yes to temptation as saying yes to Satan. You must not deceive yourself into thinking you are the third master. There are only two masters, and you must hate one and love the other (Matthew 6:24). You must love God enough to hate sin.
Deception, by definition, is unknown to those who are deceived. You cannot recognize it yourself; you must be in an accountable relationship with another who will point it out! You see this in the life of David and Nathan the prophet.
The only way to get rid of self-deception is to confess it as sin! When David said, “I have sinned against the Lord,” the power of self-deception was defeated. Repentance breaks the power of sin and releases cleansing and forgiveness. Relationships can then be healed with others and God. Absolute honesty with God and yourself destroys the power of temptations, which feed self-deception. Psalm 51 shows David was honest with himself and God. God forgave him and later calls him “a man after my own heart.”
To be an overcomer you must ask God to help you recognize when you are being tempted.
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You must build the first line of defense—with some standards and convictions. “I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day” (2 Timothy 1:12 nkjv). The Lord can keep what is committed to Him.
Your conscience can either be educated with the truth of God’s Word or be deceived by Satan or an idol of your desires. A standard or conviction starts with a commitment that there are some things you know you will not do, some places you will not go, and some things you will not say based on God’s Word. When you honor and cherish these convictions, they speak with authority. These values will win more battles over temptation than anything else.
Your first conviction must be to acknowledge that you are at war with Satan and the kingdom of darkness. Spiritual warfare won’t end until the day you die. It is a fight to the death. James says that “sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death,” spiritual death. Temptation is the battleground. You must treat the tempting thought as though it is your enemy and give it no mercy. It is out to kill you spiritually. Your flesh wants to play with it or defend it. Entertaining it may “feel” good, but it’s like playing with a snake—you can get bit. Get rid of the thought as you would a rattlesnake you found in your bed. You have to get the idea out of your mind before it turns into desire and entices you to sin (James 1:15). If you fail to take control of it, it will give birth to a sinful action.
If you don’t defeat sin, sin will defeat you and kill you. The devil does not play fair. So you must learn to fight. The Holy Spirit will train you to resist the devil, and the devil will flee. This will take time, practice, and discipline. Temptation at first may come on strong, but as you resist it is weakened. If it returns again, you must stand your ground in faith and the temptation will cease in time. To be a good soldier of Jesus Christ you must fight to the death any sin or rebellion in your life. You must not give up any ground to the enemy. For “sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.”
You must have some convictions against the sinful things in the world. Acknowledge that God has called you to live a pure and holy life in the midst of a sinful culture. “Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine” (Daniel 1:8). This was a conviction and standard based on God’s Word, and God honored Daniel.
Satan also tempted Jesus with food and power (Luke 4:5-6). He appealed to Jesus’ natural human desires. A biblical conviction will avoid the “appearance of evil” (1 Thessalonians 5:22). The Bible counsels you, “Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus. And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires” (Romans 13:14 nlt).
You must have some convictions about your money. “People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (1 Timothy 6:9-10). Don’t become a slave to money or get-rich-quick ideas. The love of things and possessions can cause you to look back. “Remember Lot’s wife” (Luke 17:32). A lack of discipline regarding money reveals lack of discipline in almost every other area of life!
You must have some convictions about overcoming evil with good. Jesus warned us that when an evil spirit or bad habit comes out of a man it creates a vacuum and must be replaced with something good. If not, it will come back with seven worse spirits than itself (Luke 11:24-26). So, redirect your mind to something that is good. “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21). Pray for someone who is weak or needs God’s help. Do something good for another person; write a note of thanks or support. Call another Christian to offer encouragement. Praise God for who He is and give thanks for His blessings.
You must be careful not to draw up a list and think that by keeping the list, you are now OK. This was the trap of the rich young ruler…legalism. Paul said that “if I walk in the Spirit, I’ll not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.” Focusing on “not fulfilling the lusts of the flesh” first will not lead to victory. You must be sold out to “walking in the Spirit” first, so as to not have time, energy, or desire to invest in the list.
You may surrender to a stronger person or to God because He is Almighty. But that is not full surrender. Only when you experience God’s unconditional love and goodness is it possible to yield your all, unconditionally, out of love. “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).
Paul says, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” (Philippians 4:8). “And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased” (Hebrews 13:16). “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head” (Romans 12:20). When you are treated cruelly respond with kindness.
You must build the first line of defense—with some standards and convictions.
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You must plan to run from the zone of temptation, or resist it.
Some temptations you run from, and others you must resist. But the basic rule is to get away from the source of your temptation. If a sinful thought or desire is not dealt with immediately, it will weaken you and lead to sinful behavior. Thus, you must have a plan! One of the first things you learn when you board an airplane is where the emergency exits are located. Plan your emergency exits to escape temptation.
Proverbs 22:3 advises, “The prudent sees the evil and hides himself, but the naive go on, and are punished for it” (nasb). A wise man examines the road for trouble spots or robbers. Aware of danger, he will wisely have a plan to avoid trouble. But a fool makes no effort to look and has no plan, and will suffer for it.
When someone joins Alcoholics Anonymous, he must first admit he is an alcoholic. This admission helps him recognize his weakness and be aware of dangers. Then he must wisely have a plan to avoid trouble.
Jesus gives us an example of this: “But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. So if your eye—even your good eye—causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell” (Matthew 5:28-29 nlt). Jesus is not teaching physical mutilation, but the removal of the offense. Because a lustful heart leads to adultery, your heart must be changed if you would escape hell. If there is a temptation that might pull you down, take whatever advance measures you need to prevent it. Be desperate! Your life depends on it!
Satan’s web of deceit will trap you and suck the life out of you. “Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10 nlt). You don’t suppress the thought—it will come back. Instead, you must reject it! Stop it before it gets started.
When the New Testament talks about sexual temptation, it gives one command: RUN! Run for your life! Get out of there! No argument can win when your emotions are involved; the devil will win every time. That’s why God commands: Run! Any movie, book, magazine, friend, party, event, Web site that puts a temptation into your mind is an open door through which you allow Satan and sin into your life. If you are slow to run, the temptation will catch you. The slower you go the stronger the temptation becomes. As soon as you recognize the temptation, flee! Paul said to “flee fornication” and “flee from idolatry” (1 Corinthians 6:18; 10:14). You are to flee from sin.
Sin can be conceived in just a few seconds in temptation. Your sinful desires will impregnate your action and give birth to sin. Sin always causes something in you to die, whether it is physical, emotional, or spiritual. The wages of sin is always death (Romans 6:23). In the garden, Satan told Eve that she wouldn’t die and people today still believe that lie. Yet Eve’s innocence died, her marital harmony died, and her relationship with God died.
The key is to remember how Joseph overcame temptation. He refused his master’s wife solicitation to “Come to bed with me!” Joseph said, “How could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?”
“And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her. One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside. She caught him by his cloak and said, ‘Come to bed with me!’ But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house” (Genesis 39:6-12).
Joseph predetermined in his mind that he would not sin against God and he ran! You must do the same. Job made that same commitment: “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl” (Job 31:1).
When you run, run toward God. “Come near to God and he will come near to you” (James 4:7). God always provides a way of escape if you are looking to Him for one. When the Egyptians pursued the children of Israel to the sea, God provided a way through. “The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:24). “Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness” (Romans 6:13).
There are different kinds of temptations. So it is important that you don’t find yourself trying to resist temptation you should be fleeing and trying to flee temptation God wants you to resist. You should flee sexual temptation. But if being used by God, for example, tempts you to be proud, you can’t flee pride by refusing to allow God to use you—you must simply resist the temptation. Another example would be fleeing the temptation of anger by withdrawing from a spouse who is often the occasion of your anger. You need the wisdom and discernment to know which temptations you should flee and which you should resist.
You must plan to run from the zone of temptation, or resist it.
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You must seek the help of a Christian friend. “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man” (1 Corinthians 10:13). God reminds you that you are to “carry each other’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2). We all are tempted and need the help and prayers of others.
The Christian life is to be lived in community—you need others to help you make it to heaven. We are a part of the “body of Christ.” We need each other. It is easier to resist sin when you have help. Even mountain climbers and scuba divers know that they have to have a friend to keep them out of danger. If you have the right kind of friends, they can keep you honest. If you do certain activities and have secrets in your closets that no one knows about, you are in deep, deep trouble.
Developing an accountability relationship takes time and effort. Set a time, then the place, or talk on the phone. You need to meet on a regular basis to pray together. You should hold one another accountable for: Scripture reading and prayer, physical habits, temptations, your witness, and integrity issues. Remember, your conversations are to be kept confidential!
When you are open with a friend, you will be open with God. That is why James 5:16 says, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.” I have “accountability partners” that I meet with every week to help me and keep me honest about certain areas of life. A spouse, mentor, or prayer partner can do the same thing. It is easier to overcome temptation when you know you have a caring person checking up on you. “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! … Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12). This support group of a few friends will pray for you and stand with you and help you overcome.
But your friends must be chosen wisely. “Do not be misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good character’” (1 Corinthians 15:33). Proverbs warns, “The righteous should choose his friends carefully, for the way of the wicked leads them astray” (Proverbs 12:26 nkjv). Your choices of friends and the places you go will help or hinder you in overcoming temptations. They can reinforce the way you see yourself for good or ill.
In your inheritance in Christ you are no longer a slave to sin and Satan (Galatians 4:7). You are born again of the Holy Spirit (John 3) and adopted into the family of God to share in Christ’s inheritance (Romans 8:14-17).
But Satan uses temptation to try to re-enslave you to evil desires and to go against the will of God. In Genesis 4:7, God warned Cain to resist evil thoughts and not let them go into desire and sin. “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.” Sin gives Satan power to rule over you and enslave you (Psalm 19:3; Romans 6:12-14).
The Scripture commands us: “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing” (1 Thessalonians 5:11).
You must seek the help of a Christian friend.
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When you submit yourself to God to the point of suffering, faith will be the byproduct. “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). The command here is a choice between God’s Word and what the devil and your feelings are saying: submit to God and resist the devil. Submit is a military term meaning “to render obedience.” It is out of submission to God that a life of faith exists. Resist means “take a stand against.” As you take a stand against the devil, he will flee and so will the doubts of uncertainty. The battle is the Lord’s only after you submit and resist!
Jesus was tempted in all points like us, yet He did not sin (Hebrews 4:15). How did He overcome? “Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation” (Hebrews 5:8-9 nasb).
After Henry Blackaby had been studying this scripture, a man came up to him at a conference to ask a question. He said that he had trouble being obedient to Christ. Could he help him?
Blackaby told the man that if he really wanted help Scripture could help him. The man said he did. Blackaby then quoted Hebrews 5:8 and said Jesus learned obedience by His willingness to suffer. This generation refuses pain and suffering. It wants a life of ease with no discipline. The problem with most Christians is that they are lazy and want a life with no difficulty. “Are you willing to suffer and come under discipline?” Blackaby asked the man. “Or do you want a life of ease with no commitment? The Scripture says that you will learn obedience only when you are willing to suffer! Do you want to be obedient? Are you willing to suffer?”
Will you submit to God and resist the devil?
Peter also tells us how Jesus overcame sin. “Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God” (1 Peter 4:1-2 nasb). If you are willing to suffer, you can learn obedience, cease sinning, and do the will of God. “Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted” (Hebrews 2:18). Christ’s love demands self-sacrifice.
Oswald Chambers says, “Satan is to be overcome and conquered by human beings. That is why God became Incarnate. It is in the Incarnation that Satan is overcome (Hebrews 2:14-18).”
It is Jesus Christ alone who breaks the curse of sin. Thus, He is the one who gives victory over temptation and is the motivation of the Christian life. Victory is not found in the will, determination, or striving but in the Christ. You cannot liberate yourself by your own strength. It is a vine-branch relationship. Jesus said, “Without me, you can do nothing!”
If you do not have this relationship of total dependence on Jesus Christ, then cry out for it. This life of victory is all about Jesus, not about you.
“As the Scripture says, ‘Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame’” (Romans 10:11). “So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised” (Hebrews 10:35-36).
Scripture tells us to resist the devil and to stand against him with the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:11). This is my prayer:
Lord, as I prepare today for battle, I take up the armor of God. I put around me the belt of truth and integrity. I wear Your breastplate of righteousness, holiness, and redemption as my badge of confidence. My shoes of peace and conviction make me stand secure. My shield of faith in Your faithfulness protects me from the darts of the enemy. I wield the sword of the Word as my defense against the adversary and my authority to save, heal, and deliver in the name of Jesus. The assurance of salvation is my helmet that guards my mind. With prayer in the Spirit, I hear Your voice; strength is given and the battle is won.
Thank You, Lord, for the armor of God that makes me an overcomer! Amen.