Today the Gospel lesson recounts Jesus’ temptation and His response to the Devil. Our Lenten season is modeled on Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness following His baptism.
It may seem that after baptism and faith in Christ, spiritual life should become easy. Yet often just the opposite is true. During times of special spiritual devotions, it looks as though the Devil works overtime.
During the Divine Service distractions abound. In our personal devotions and prayers, it can be difficult to focus. During Lent when you are working harder to pray and read Holy Scriptures, Satan can make our days busier than ever.
Yet it is especially during these times of trial that God’s word and prayer become the most helpful. God declares, “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me” (Ps 50:15).
In fact God may allow these troubles to come in order to help us refocus our priorities. How wonderful it is that God does not reject us because of our weakness in spiritual struggles but rather promises to hear and deliver us.
Luther writes in the Large Catechism: “We need to know this: all our shelter and protection rest in prayer alone. For we are far too weak to deal with the devil and all his power and followers who set themselves against us. They might easily crush us under their feet. Therefore, we must consider and take up those weapons with which Christians must be armed in order to stand against the devil.”
Prayer: Dear Lord, even Jesus was accosted by Satan and tempted to sin. When these temptations come our way, hear our prayers and bring us deliverance as you have promised. Amen.
God’s richest blessings in Christ,
Pastor Philip Quardokus.
Download a pdf of all the Lenten devotions here.
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