Our mind is the devils playground and temptation is his favorite toy. He uses temptation to try to make us fall into the sin that hurts us the most. He knows that if we keep falling into the temptation that we will harbor guilt, regret, and shame towards ourselves. And if we feel bad about ourselves then we will not be at our best and we will not treat others the best that we could either. Falling into temptation can make us feel like we are unworthy of all the things that God offers us as well as we are unworthy of God’s love. But we can defeat satan at his game of temptation. We may feel like the temptation is just to much to withstand but that is a lie from satan. God will never allow a temptation that we can not withstand.

The very first thing that we can do in fighting the temptation is to pray for God’s help. A quick prayer of HELP ME JESUS will do. Nothing long and drawn out. A simple prayer asking for help with the temptation is all you need.

Then we have to change our focus. When we notice that we are thinking about the thing then we can change our thoughts to something else. Since every temptation starts with a thought, the quicker that we change what we are thinking about the sooner that the temptation will fade away. Putting our attention onto something else that is good will help fight the thought of the bad that we want to do. The battle of sin is won or lost in our mind. We must not allow ourselves to think about the thing that we want to stop doing because as long as we think about it wanting to stop doing it the urge to do it will grow within us. As long as we have it on our mind it feeds the temptation which feeds the emotions which in turn gives birth to the action. Instead of trying to fight the feeling of the temptation and thinking about it just ignore the thought and think about something else. Once you think about something else the temptation loses it’s power. We overcome evil with good and satan can not have our attention when we are focused on something good.

The next thing that you can do to fight temptation is to get busy doing something else. What ever you are doing when the temptation arises while you refocus your thoughts do something that will help you take your mind off of it. It may be calling someone, taking a walk, taking a shower, doing some dishes, anything that will get your body moving and help you to refocus your thoughts.

For many temptations that involve a bad habit or an addiction telling someone that you can trust about your struggle will help release some of the hold that it has on you. When we have a secret it makes us sick. And when we are sick we are weak. Having someone to talk to about it helps get it out of you, gives you someone that can pray with and for you, someone that can encourage you and also hold you accountable.

We can resist satans attack of temptation by resisting him with the word of God. When we have temptation we can think about and speak the truth of scripture to help us fight it. Find some scriptures that encourage you and speak against the temptation that you struggle and write them down so that you can take them with you everywhere that you go. When satan puts the lie or the temptation in your mind pull out that paper and declare the truth. The truth of scripture makes satan tremble and he will leave you alone at least for awhile when you speak it.

If there is a certain place, person, or situation that makes the temptation to the thing that we do not want to do then we should try to avoid it. It will only help us to try to stay away from whatever brings on the temptation until we receive victory over it. And even then we must be careful.

Be patient with yourself. It takes time to overcome the temptations and receive victory over them. We all sin. We all fall into temptation. Not one of us is perfect, without any downfalls. But we can overcome the temptations that cause us to sin. We can have victory through Jesus Christ.