What prayer can I say to remove temptation?
Question:
Hello,
I have been reading your forum to try and live a better life, but I have a question to ask: My mind has been disturbing since my holidays. It's always telling me to do sinful things, but I always fight back. I want to know what prayer to say so that my mind can be clean so that I won't have any distractions and so I can live a good life.
Thank you very much.
Answer:
You're close to the right answer, but your approach is slightly off. You are approaching prayer almost as if it is some magical incantation to solve problems. It isn't. Prayer is our ability to talk with God about our problems, to ask for help with situations, and to thank Him for His aid.
I don't know exactly what temptation you are struggling against, but if all you do is try to remove sin from your life, you won't succeed in the long run. "When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation" (Matthew 12:43-45). When all you do is try to keep sin out, then you leave a vacuum behind waiting to be filled. Eventually, you'll slip and sin will fill the space.
To succeed, you have to also fill your life up with righteousness so that there is no room for sin in your life, even when you do slip. Notice the two halves: remove sin and put on righteousness. "The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts" (Romans 13:12-14).
