I am tempted

Being tempted is not the same as sinning. Jesus himself was tempted: the Letter to the Hebrews says he was tempted in all things like us, yet without sin. Being tempted means you are in the fight; it does not mean you have lost it.

And lead us not into temptation. But deliver us from evil. Amen.
Matthew 6:13 · Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition

Awaiting theological review

What Jesus teaches

Direct
Summary of Matthew 6:13
He taught his disciples to ask every day: “And lead us not into temptation. But deliver us from evil.”
Direct
Summary of Matthew 26:41
In the garden he told his sleeping disciples to watch and pray, because the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.

What Christian tradition learns from this

Scripture

Paul writes that God is faithful and will not let you be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation will also make a way out.1 Corinthians 10:13

What Jesus did

Forty days in the desert
Matthew 4:1–11
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What Jesus experienced
Hunger after forty days of fasting, and three temptations: bread, a spectacular sign, and power over the kingdoms of the world.
What Jesus did
He answered each temptation with the word of God, and the devil left him.
A night in the garden
Luke 22:39–46
Direct
What Jesus experienced
Anguish the night before his Passion, while his friends slept.
What Jesus did
He knelt and prayed, and told his disciples to pray that they might not enter into temptation.
What Jesus said
“not my will, but thine be done.”
Luke 22:42 · Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
Peter's fall
Luke 22:54–62
Direct
What Jesus experienced
Peter, who had promised to die with him, denying him three times in a courtyard.
What Jesus did
The Lord turned and looked at Peter; Peter remembered his word and wept bitterly. After the Resurrection Jesus restored him (John 21:15–19).

What Scripture doesn’t tell us

If what tempts you has become a compulsion you cannot stop — gambling, drinking, pornography, drugs — it may be an addiction. That deserves medical help as well as prayer, and there is no shame in asking for it.

Someone who walked this road

PeterScripture
He fell on the night he had sworn loyalty — and Jesus did not give up on him (Luke 22:61–62; John 21:15–19).
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Saint Augustine of HippoHistorical context
In his Confessions he describes years of struggling with desires he could not let go of, and how grace changed him.
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Pray

Lord Jesus, you were tempted in the desert and did not give in. When I am weak, keep me close to you. Lead me not into temptation, and when I fall, lift me up again, as you lifted Peter. Amen.

Written for cento53 as a simple personal prayer — not a liturgical text.

One thing to do today

Notice the time, the place or the mood in which temptation is strongest for you. Change one small thing about it today, and when temptation comes, pray the last line of the Our Father.