The Devil's Best Work: Keeping God Out of Mind

The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis

It is funny how mortals always picture us as putting things into their minds: in reality our best work is done by keeping things out. (20)

[The Enemy] wants men to be concerned about what they do; our business is to keep them thinking about what will happen to them. (28)

The great thing is to direct his malice to his immediate neighbors whom he meets every day and to thrust his benevolence out to the remote circumference, to people he does not know. . . .  Think of your man as a series of concentric circles, his will being the innermost, hie intellect coming next, and finally his fantasy.  You can hardly hope, at once, to exclude from all the circles everything that smells of the Enemy: but you must keep on shoving all virtues outward till they are finally located in the circle of fantasy, and all the desirable qualities inward into the Will. (31)

Provided that meetings, pamphlets, policies, movements, causes, and crusades, matter more to him than prayers and sacraments and charity, he is ours - and the more "religious" (one those terms), the more securely ours.  I could show you a pretty cage-full down here. (35) 

You now see that the the Irresistible and Indisputable are the two weapons which the very nautre of His scheme forbids Him to use.  Merely to override the human will (as His felt presence in any but the faintest and most mitigated degree would certainly do) would be for Him useless.  He cannot ravish.  He can only woo.  For His ignoble purpose is to eat the cake and have it; the creatures are to be one with Him, but yet themselves. (38)

We always try to work away from the natural condition of any pleasure to that in which it is least natural, least redolent of it Maker, and least pleasurable.  An ever increasing craving for an ever diminishing pleasure is the formula. (42)

A moderated religion is as good for us as no religion at all - and more amusing. (43)

[When your patient realizes] that his own faith is in direct opposition to the assumptions on which all the conversation of his new friends is based, . . . he will be silent when he ought to speak and laugh when he ought to be silent. . . .  All mortals tend to turn into the thing they are pretending to be. (46)

If prolonged, the habit of Flippancy builds up around a man the finest armor plating against the Enemy that I know, and it is quite free from the dangers inherent in the other sources of laughter.  It is a thousand miles away from joy; it deadens, instead of sharpening, the intellect;  and it excites no affection between those who practice it. (52)

The safest road to Hell is the gradual one - the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.  (56)

The deepest likings and impulses of any man are the raw material, the starting point, with which the Enemy  has furnished him. (59)

The Enemy wants him, in the end, to be so free from any bias in his own favor that he can rejoice in his own talents as frankly and gratefully as in his neighbor's talents - or in a sunrise, and elephant, or a waterfall. . . .  When they have really learned to love their neighbors as themselves, they will be allowed to love themselves as their neighbors. (64)

The truth is that wherever a man lies with a woman, there, whether they like it or not, a transcendental relation is set up which must be eternally enjoyed of eternally endured. (83)

Much of the modern resistance to chastity comes from men's belief that they "own" their bodies. . . .  They will find out in the end, never fear, to whom their time, their souls, and their bodies really belong - certain not to them, whatever happens.  (98)

Prosperity knits a man to the World, He feels that he is "finding his place in it," while really it is finding its place in him.  (132)

Nowhere do we tempt so successfully as on the very steps on the altar. (172) 

The work of spiritual warfare seems to be more tactics than force.  According to Lewis, we find ourselves more outmaneuvered by Satan than overpowered by him.  In the end, we are defeated by our own desires.  It is this end to which the Devil works.  "Get behind me Satan!  You are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of men!"

What sorts of things keep my mind from being set on God?  Forgetfulness brought on by keeping God on the outskirts of my life through "great" causes, diminishing pleasures, trust in God "moderated" into mere talk,  being of the World, holding onto my body as if I owned it, etc.  The options are endless and yet surprisingly repetitive.

If I were to sum up Screwtape's strategy, it would be to keep God out of the mind.  He talks of the many ways of using the flesh (natural human ability, status, and experience apart from God) and the World (organized, historically-moving, institutional flesh) to keep God out of the picture.  The gospel is intended to "renew the mind" for the transformation of my life.  The good news is that I do not have to forget or neglect God, but can live with his continual presence in my mind, and also in my life.  The kingdom that Jesus rules is the continual, eternal, working influence of God in each life and outward into all the universe.

Satan's tactics certainly do make for a strong assault.  Through lies and temptation, I am easily led to destruction.  Without God to lead me elsewhere, I will go astray.  Unlike Satan, God does not intend to control me, but to influence me deeply, fill me, work in and through me.  He is a loving Father always near, not a calculating tyrant, always coercing and manipulating.  Satan's main lie and temptation is simple: "You can't trust Jesus.  Trust yourself instead."

Lord, it is one thing to talk about Satan academically and another to face his lies and temptation in my life.  Let me continually set my mind on you.  Let me not listen to those lies, but only to your truth.  "May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer."  Amen.


The small temptations and sins lead to bigger ones.  The battles begin with arguments and skirmishes before they become all out war.  I cannot patrol the borders of my life alone.  The Lord is my shield and fortress and an ever-present help in trouble.

Spiritual Movements, Both Holy and Unholy

Devotional Classics, Ignatius of Loyola, Excerpts from The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius

The following are some rules for perceiving and understanding the different movements that are produced in the soul - the good that should be accepted; the bad that should be rejected.

I call it consolation when the soul is aroused by an interior movement which causes it to be inflamed with love of its Creator and Lord and consequently can love no created thing in this world for its own sake.

I call desolation all that is contrary to [consolation], as darkness of the soul, turmoil of the mind, inclination to low and earthly things, restlessness resulting from many disturbances and temptations which leads to loss of faith, loss of hope, loss of love.

For just as consolation is contrary to desolation, so the thoughts that spring from consolation are the opposite of those that spring from desolation.

In time of desolation one should never make a change. . . .  Although in desolation we should not change our earlier resolutions, it will be very advantageous to intensify our activity against desolation.

A person who is in consolation ought to think of how he will conduct himself during a future desolation and thus build up a new strength for that time.  A person who is in consolation would also take care to humble and abase himself as much as possible.

The enemy will lose courage and take flight as soon as a person who is following the spiritual life stands courageously against his temptations and does exactly the opposite of what the enemy suggests.  On the contrary, if a person begins to take flight and loses courage in the midst of  fighting temptation, no wild beast on earth is more fierce than the enemy as he pursues his evil intention with ever increasing malice.

The enemy behaves like a false lover who wishes to remain hidden and does not want to be revealed. . . .  In like manner, when the enemy tempts a just soul with his wiles and deceits, he wishes and desires that they be received in secret.

Also, it is characteristic of the evil one to transform himself into an angel of light, to work with the soul in the beginning, but in the end work for himself. . . .  It is well for a person show has been tempted to examine the course of the good thoughts that were suggested to him.

In those who are making spiritual progress, the action of the good angel is gentle, light, and sweet, as a drop of water entering a sponge.  The action of the evil spirit is sharp, noisy, and disturbing, like a drop of water falling upon a rock.  In those souls that are going from bad to worse, the action of these two spirits is the reverse. . . .  When the disposition of the soul and that of the spirits are similar, they enter silently as one coming into his own house through an open door.  (pp. 193-197)

Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour.  Resist him, steadfast in your faith.  (1 Peter 5:4)

One of the most important aspects to walking with the Spirit is discernment.  The spiritual realm is surprisingly full and active.  The seemingly "empty space" that surrounds me is full of such activity.  I become aware of it as I start swimming against the stream of the world.

Ignatius writes so clearly, I feel at home with him immediately.  He has very concrete and distinct descriptions of spiritual activity and the warfare I face.  What is striking is that all the thoughts and feelings associated with them that I sense do not originate within myself.  This is a great comfort and gives room for discernment.

It may be that the miracle of coherence that exists between people as they speak and communicate may be based on this similarity of the thoughts and feelings they encounter from outside themselves.  The connection between two people as they talk about "water" or a "chair" exists not only in the similarity of the objects, but in the similarity of their comprehension of the objects.  Such similarity has something to do with how they are made, but perhaps also has to do with a continual  common sea of thoughts and feelings that they float in in the spiritual realm.  Just a thought.

I love the simplicity that Ignatius uses to define these movements within my spirit.  I find his ideas helpful in the realm of everyday spiritual warfare.  Rather than being stories from The Exorcist, he speaks of daily battles in which the war is won or lost.

The three fronts he mentions in these passages are my weakness, my spiritual progress, my hidden thoughts, and good things that distract me from God.  In these fronts he is quite plain in dealing with evil spirits.  Resist them.  In weakness, stand and oppose.  With spiritual progress, intensify and do not waver.  With shameful hidden thoughts, reveal them as temptations.  With good things that take me away from God, resist and review them so that I am not fooled again.

One other thing I have become aware of is how certain people seem to show up on these fronts to encourage or discourage me.  They almost seem to know what I am going through and make it harder or easier.  What is really strange is that some people I would think would be on the good side are not and some of the most unlikely people come to encourage me out of the blue that I would not even know were my allies.  Such is the nature of spiritual warfare.

I struggle with opposing and resisting because of these people who come.  I do not want to oppose certain people, but I must.  I cry out to God, Why them?  This may be the thickest fighting I have to go through.  Rejection from people I may know and love who oppose God's work in and around me hurts terribly.  But really, even strangers who oppose such things and pick on my weaknesses still hurt.  I need to remember resisting is what is best for myself and for them.

 Father, let your Spirit be a guide and a shield to me as I face temptation and trial.  Let me take the times of peace as times in which I can prepare for battle even as I enjoy the consolations.  Forgive me when I stay too long and run from difficulties instead of resisting them.  Amen.


Spiritual warfare is so spiritual.  It may keep under the radar because it deals with things that are unseen and because opportunities for such resistance are everywhere.  Really all I need to do is start swimming against the current to feel the resistance.  As long as I float down the stream, I won't notice the strength of the current.  Spiritual warfare takes place when I resist, not when I'm being conformed to the lies and ideals of this present age.  The more I resist, the more I know of warfare.

Virtue and Temptation Again

Devotional Classics, Teresa of Avila, Excerpts from Interior Castle

It is at this stage that the devils will attack the soul with the earthly pleasures of this world, like snakes who bite with deadly poison.  They trick the soul into thinking that such pleasures will last an eternity; they remind the soul of the high esteem in which it is held in the world; they place before it the many friends and relatives who will disagree with the manner of life you have now begun. . . .

 When you feel the beginnings of temptation, do not fight back with strenuous efforts, but rather, gently begin a time of prayer and recollection.  At first it will be difficult, but after a while you will be able to do ti easily, and for long periods of time.

Do not think that you must stop doing your work in order to pray.  The Lord will turn all of our work time into profit as long as we continue in a spirit of prayer.  There is no remedy for the temptations that we face except to start at the beginning, and the beginning is prayer.  The only way to lose is to turn back. (pp.197, 199)

Looking at this picture of Teresa of Avila, I am reminded of her monastic life.  She was a nun from age 19.  I have had mixed feelings about this.  On the one hand, the life in a convent was so unlike my own, and so unlike that of Jesus and his disciples.  Most people have jobs and work and raise families.  On the other hand, the dedication and concentration that she and others like her devoted to prayer makes me admire her, as I would a scientist doing research for a cure to a dreaded disease.  In the end both have made my life seem mundane and distant from the one she talks about because of its distance from monastic life and because of my lack of concentration on the matters that Teresa dedicated her life to.

If I seek to remove some of the "monkish wrappings" from her words and thoughts, I find that she is not speaking about the life of a recluse or hermit in particular, but about life in general.  The monastic influence places some barriers in front of my understanding and appreciating what she has to say, but I also believe that my own lack of desire to seek God with all that I am plays no small part in my hesitation to accept her words and learn from them.  This is the nature of "early stages" of prayer, as she puts it.  The lack of desire to leave temptation ans sin behind has kept me from seeking God numerous times.

This is not something that I became aware of until I saw it in hindsight.  When I was in the middle of these temptations, I did not recognize many of them to be temptations at all, but just "how I am."  Because I didn't recognize temptation, I did not recognize how much I was sinning against God and other people.  I was in a place where I prayed, though, asking for forgiveness for the sins that caught my attention because I was caught  doing them, or because my life was suffering so obviously from them.  Mostly, I was aware of my sin through the eyes of other people who reacted to the sins or the results of those sins.

The beginning of dealing with temptation was in confession.  Looking back and regretting my actions was where I started much of my prayer life.  It wasn't that I was never thankful or did not give honor to God, but my love and appreciation were never very deep in my life as long as I was dealing with temptation on the tail end, after I had sinned.

I write about this as past, not because I do not ever deal with temptation this way any more, but because I have found other ways of dealing with temptation through prayer other than confessing and repenting of sins I commit.  It began with the great desire to be free from certain sins and the temptations that precede them.  Confessing becomes tiring and insincere when I do not long to be free from such sins in my life.  Instead of giving up and calling my sins inevitable, I began to seek for other ways out of this stage of prayer and my life with God.

Teresa is right about the devil resisting this move.  Certainly my own flesh - my natural abilities - were so used to giving in that temptation seemed insurmountable.  One of the works of the devil that Jesus came to destroy (1 John 3:8)  was flesh, that is, reliance on my own natural abilities apart from God.  Satan tempts me to work on my own, either rationalizing my sins or fighting against them with all my might.  Either way I fail, because I feed the flesh and desire rather than strengthening my resolve to wait on God and humbly do as he says.

This is why Teresa's advice about gentle prayer rings so true for me.  She uses another word as well: "recollection."  This is recalling the thoughts and feelings of God at the time of temptation.  It can be memorized scripture, familiar hymns, the cross, the feeling of God's presence, or just getting back to work.  Such "recollection" mixed with asking God for help provide another way out of temptation rather than confession.  So when temptation comes as a thought and an inclination to sin, I can redirect my mind toward God through recollection and asking for his help.  This made me aware of how temptation precedes sins in my life and needs to be monitored closely.  "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation." (Matthew 26:41)

I found quickly that "parroting" a prayer or Bible verse does not amount to recollection or prayer.  Such things cannot be used like magic to adjust the faults I am particularly ashamed of.  They are part of a larger life that goes on when I am not being tempted.  If my mind is filled with thoughts and feelings that quickly lead to temptation and sin, then a little song or Bible verse or even prayer will not change my direction easily or consistently.  I found that I needed thoughts and feelings about God that were at least as compelling and powerful as the other thoughts and feelings I was having.  Guilt was not enough.  It often worked against me.  Instead I needed joy and peace in God himself.


What I found was that prayer and recollection involve many aspects of my life.  I cannot get fixed without being changed.  This is why in order to leave behind the "earlier stages" of prayer and life with God, I needed to become aware of my temptations and sins enough to realize that they are not momentary lapses, but indicative of how my life is lived, of what inhabits my thoughts and feelings, of what my body is prepared to do without thinking, and of how distracted and confused are the depths of my being.  I pulled on the string of my momentary lapses and found a spider web of connections throughout my whole life.

Now I am learning about another way to fight temptation and grow in my life with God.  I have not left confession or recollection and prayer behind, but have found that they lay the foundation for something else.  This is doing all things in a "spirit of prayer."

I had thought I could jump to this after reading some about it and skip or do without confession, recollection, and prayer, but have found instead that these actions point to something all-pervasive and all-encompassing that I need in my life.  Teresa is right in saying that I have to start at the beginning.  It is starting with prayer and continuing on with it.  Confession begins this journey.  Recollection and petition sustain it.  The goal of it is "abiding" with God, as John puts it (John 15), or having the "spirit of prayer," according to Teresa.

I am writing mostly about what I have heard and read and not so much experienced here.  In the realm of temptation, this kind of prayer brings a person to a place where it does not evil does not even occur to them.  As Dallas Willard puts it, "A person is only as good as what doesn't enter their minds."  (paraphrase)  Obviously, this is not to be free from temptation, since Jesus himself was not free from it.  Rather it is to have it be far less frequent because of what the mind is occupied with.  Satan can intrude with thoughts of temptation, but often these would be discarded as uninteresting or ludicrous.

I know there are some temptations that have always seemed that way to me.  For myself, getting drunk has never been a temptation for me.  Although the thought was there, there was hardly any inclination.  It never really "made sense" to me.  I have seen some things for which I have a strong inclination begin to fade because of what I am interested in, dedicated to, and hoping for in my life.

Occasionally, the thoughts and actions that help me resist may be very mundane things, but mostly, they have had to be charged with love in order to stand up to temptation.  What I mean is that temptation is fixed on my own desire apart from the good of God and everyone else.  When love begins to take root, I choose God and his goodness more than what I want and so the inclination of temptation decreases.  Only love is strong enough to thwart my desires, which are strengthened by my flesh, teased by the devil, and imposed by the peer pressure of this world.  Love must be separated from desire and be understood as "willing what is good."  Such love is what I really need and truly desire more than merely getting what I want.

I see that how I have worked with temptation indicates where I am in my walk with God.  If the main place I deal with temptation is through confession, then I am just starting.  Moving forward from this place begins with the desire to overcome temptation.  This is brought about by God's grace.  He makes me aware of my need.

The next "stage" is one where I respond to temptation before I sin through direct means.  I recollect and pray in the face of temptation.  This is a huge step and is accompanied by a lot of resistance.  For this reason, it is easy to give up and go back to just confessing.  This is the only way to fail.  By moving forward, I believe I am guaranteed victory, since God wants me to draw near to him and be free from sin.  Giving up indicates what I think about God.

Finally, recollection and prayer start to become ingrained as habits and desires, so that there is much less room for temptation in the mind and much less inclination for temptation in the body.  Instead of being the central focus, whether as an object of desire or an object of guilt and hatred, temptation becomes less interesting and "slips the mind" due to the fascination and delight in God and his work.

Lord, I write and write, but I feel that I can never quite explain what it is to be near you and say, "How precious to me are your thoughts, O God; how vast the sum of them!"  I enjoy the research that people like Teresa have performed and recorded in what it is to walk with you.  May I learn and grow as they did.  Amen.


I meant to be more short and sweet with this, but I ended up outlining my life and struggle with temptation.  As usual, I am short on concrete examples, so I end up swimming in abstractions.  However, this was very important as I realize more of what temptation is and how I can deal with it so that God might be who I want to be with as well as who I want to be like.

Virtue and Perseverance

Devotional Classics, Teresa of Avila, Excerpts from Interior Castle

I feel I must repeat this important point: at the beginning we must not become content with the consolations we may receive at the early stages [of prayer].  That would be like building our house on sand.  At this stage you are beginning to build a beautiful castle, and you must build it on strong virtues, not on temporary consolations.  Neither should we complain about a lack of consolation at this stage.  Rather embrace the Cross which Jesus bore upon his shoulders and realize that this Cross is yours to carry too.  We are free in the same measure we are able to suffer. (p. 198)

If then, you sometimes fall, so not lose heart.  Even more, do not cease striving to make progress from it, for even out of your fall God will bring some good. . . .  Our sins can have the effect of leading us back to God and striving all the more.  (p.198)

 The only way to overcome temptation and sin is through perseverance.  Do not give up!  This is the difference between marriage and divorce, heroes and villains, joy and apathy.  When overcoming becomes a habit, trials and temptations bring joy.  (James 1:1)

Teresa explains the temptation to give up by using an allegory.  She describes the various stages of coming to know God by using the image of a castle with many rooms.  As a person grows, he moves from one room to another.  Not persevering leads to remaining in a room or even leaving the castle of knowing God altogether.

Three things can keep me from persevering: consolation, desolation, and temptation.  The first is early success.  Teresa's "consolations" are times in which God shows up and often dramatically.  "Mountain-top" spiritual experiences are wonderful, but trap me because I am tempted to go back to find them.  There is nothing wrong with enjoying powerful experiences with God, but as C. S. Lewis says, the most dangerous word here is, "Encore!"

I love how Teresa ties this with building my life ("house") on sand.  My experience of God's goodness fluctuates for many reasons.  The sure foundation is not a particular kind of experience with God, but a particular kind of character in myself from being with God.  That character is called virtuous.  It is when the goodness of God begins to form in my habits and daily living.  That is the "rock" to build life on: obedience to Christ's commands by his strength.

The reason I become trapped by consolations is because I value the experience more than the growth in character and virtue that I may obtain through such an experience.  Consolations are inevitable in a walk with a God who longs to satisfy the desires of my heart.  I have to hold them lightly, though.  The thought that helps me let them go is realizing that the best is yet to come.  Perseverance is letting go of such consolations because of the desire to press "onward and upward" into being good more than just experiencing good.

The second barrier to perseverance comes from "desolations."  This is a lack of consolation.  Desert times, dry spells, and boredom show up in desolation.  Spiritual aridity causes many people to turn back in their walk with God.  I find that I may wonder if I took a wrong turn somewhere and try to review and relive past experiences in order to find God's consolation.  "Encore" again.

I have come through these times of desolation by not giving in to fear.  Even if I don't sense him, God is near and will not abandon me.  Even if I have taken a wrong turn, the best thing to do when lost is to stay put.  Wait on God for rescue from these times in the wilderness.  Usually, I find that he continues to grant consolations in these times, but they are quieter and more easily over looked.  Instead of an ocean of joy and power I may sense in a spiritually "high" moment, I am treated with a small oasis of hope or peace.  It is no wonder that these "small" consolations can be even more meaningful that "big" ones just because of where they occur - in the desert.  The contrast heightens their force.

My worst sins creep out in times of desolation.  The desire to elicit feeling - any feeling - is strong when the days seem gray and God, far away.  This is where fear comes in and where my faith and trust is God is tested.  He usually comes relatively quickly, within and hour or two of my cry for help and often immediately.  He grants small assurances of his presence and love that point to better times with him.  Remembering his faithfulness helps a lot more than aching for better times and experiences.

Finally, temptation wears away at perseverance.  Temptations come as thoughts with an inclination or desire to fulfill the thoughts.  When such thoughts are harbored or acted upon, they become sin.  Before the action or the holding on to the temptation, it is not sin, just temptation.  These can be overcome.

The best way to overcomes them is to have other thoughts.  I need to fill my mind with other things than the thoughts that are tempting.  With this thoughts may come, but usually they are without much inclination because my attention is focused elsewhere.

Second best is to turn from such thoughts immediately when they occur.  The stronger my inclination, the quicker I have to turn away from such thoughts.  This is where memorized sections of the Bible come into play.  Also hymns and songs of praise can help divert my mind away from temptation.  Also rather mundane activities like good work and good play can redirect my mind toward God and his goodness.

Finally, the last way to overcome temptation is to confess when I have been overcome and strive to make progress from it.  Although this last way seems like defeat, it is only defeat if I let it discourage me enough to give up or deny that I have sinned.  As hard as it is, confession is best practiced with a another trusted person who can remind me of God's love and forgiveness.  In the face of failure, I need forgiveness to be able to make any progress from my sin.  Other people can speak through the hurt, emptiness, and self-doubt I may have when I am in a "failure mode."

Recently, I gave into a temptation that plagues me.  Filled with self-hatred and fear, I could not see a way out without the help of another person.  Sometimes I need help even to cry out to God.  From this I learned about spiritual death.  Such death contains a never-ending amount of self-hatred, or "weeping and gnashing of teeth" to use the metaphor.  It is to be caught in such a place with no hope of escape.  Self-hatred yields self-destruction, whether slow or fast.  Self-hatred is one of the indicators of giving up and lacking perseverance.  In this case, I was given a new thought and motivation to help me stay away from temptation.

I see how consolations, "desolations," and temptations can become barriers to perseverance.  The only way out is to develop a virtuous character under God's guiding, graceful hand.  Here is how Jesus put it:

While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. Some fell on rock, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.” When he said this, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear . . .”

“This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts [desolation], so that they may not believe and be saved  Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it [consolation], but they have no root [character]. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away.  The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, [temptations] and they do not mature. But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart [virtuous character], who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop. (Luke 8:4-15)

Lord, grant me a noble and good heart that thinks on you above all else and hears you, that stays with you even when bored or discouraged, and that perseveres through all sorts of temptations, even when I fall to them.  Let me be an overcomer and not give up!  Amen.

Like so many things in life, the key to success in a life with God is just showing up and not giving up.  By God's grace and mercy, we can do it.

Virtue and Temptation

Devotional Classics, Thomas a Kempis, The Imitation of Christ

"Many have tried to escape  temptations only to find that they more grievously fall into them.  We cannot win this battle by running away alone; the key to victory is true humility and patience; in them we overcome the enemy.  If we merely turn away from temptation outwardly and do not strike at the root, we will make very little progress.  In fact, you will find that the temptations will return more quickly and powerfully, and you will feel even worse.  Little by little, through patient endurance of spirit (with the help of God), you will win a better victory than by your own determination.  The beginning of all evil temptations is an unstable mind and a small trust in God."  (p.185)

The trouble with temptation is that "wherever you go, there you are."  Temptation lives in my desire and I take my desire with me wherever I go.  It is a thought accompanied by a sense of pleasure.  These occur with some regularity throughout my day.

One relief is that temptation is not in itself wrong.  My will has not been brought to bear.  I have not made a choice. . . yet.  When I mistake temptation for sin, I live a defeated life and misunderstand the nature of spiritual growth and salvation.  I will not be saved from temptation in this life, any more than Jesus was.  However, like Jesus and in his company, I can hope to overcome temptation.

Although temptation is a thought and a feeling and the fight against temptation is within my mind, the victory against temptation is found elsewhere.  Victory against temptation is found in the heart.  I am tempted because of a "small trust is God" and a lack of "true humility and patience."  The orientation of the heart is what strengthens or weakens temptation.  The less I trust God and yield to his desires and goodness, the less I am willing to wait on him to save me from my troubles, the greater temptations will become.  Conversely, the more I trust God and delight in what he delights in and rely on him for help, the more temptations move into the realm of passing thoughts with no appeal.

Without my cry to God, I am working "in the flesh," that is, by my own ability and determination.  This is bound to fail.  It does not hit the root of the matter, but ends up merely pruning the branches of the temptation and making it grow larger.  What I mean is that the more I rely on my own determination to fight temptation, the less I rely on God and trust in him, and then find that the temptation grows in strength because it grows where there is little trust in God.  I may find that I exchange one behavior for another, but root of pride and self-reliance remains which gives temptation its strength.

So I cannot run away from temptation.  Neither can I fight temptation directly with my own "will-power."  Instead I must face temptation and endure it, not by focusing on it, but by calling out to God for help and salvation and waiting on him.  I fight the temptation in the battlefield of my mind by learning how to continually focus on God in his goodness and in what he desires.  Temptation indicates where I have wavered in my attention on God.

In this way temptations can serve me.  I can find the places and times in my life where I lose track of God.  (The Prayer of Examen is helpful for this.  See http://messagescraps.blogspot.com/2011/08/prayer-of-examen-examined.html)  Temptation is, at its heart, forgetting God.  The kinds of thoughts and feelings and the where and when I have them inform me of my weaknesses.  "Temptations reveal our instability and our lack of trust in God; temptations reveal who we are.  That is why we must pay attention to them."  Humility and patience are the willingness and desire to bring God into those areas of my life, so that he is all in all.  

Basically, I need to learn how to have his desires, the desire for good, at the center of my life instead of my own desires a the center.  I trust that if I seek God's interests and desires, he will richly supply my own in his way and in his time.  Instead of all thoughts and choices going through the "Do I want to?" filter first, I need to bring them through the "Is this God's good?" filter first.

I am tempted to neglect work at times.  I find that when faced with certain tasks, I have a feeling of boredom or even frustration.  I have been learning to submit to such work because I anticipate that God will take such things, even if they seem unimportant, and create patience and kindness and endurance in me through them.  When things are particularly difficult I call out for help and God comes quickly most times.  I am learning that trusting God is doing these tasks out of love and service to him, knowing that he is my "boss" and will take care of my wants and needs.  Trusting God enables me to change my thoughts about the work and then my feelings follow.

I could change my thoughts about the work in other ways, without trusting God, but instead relying on "positive thinking" or pride in being a good worker.  These attitudes take the work I do and build up my trust in my own abilities apart from God, what is called "the flesh" in the Bible.  Unfortunately, as I build up the pride in my flesh, which leads to greater desire towards pleasing myself and looking good to impress other people.  In the end, this strengthens the temptation to be bored or frustrated at work, because my flesh growls about not being satisfied or appreciated.

With God as my trust, the boredom and frustration are replaced with joy in seeing God work in and through my work to increase humility and endurance in my life as well as blessing other people with my work and my attitude.  The growling of my flesh for satisfaction or appreciation becomes quieter in the pleasure of seeing God honored and pleased and other people blessed and encouraged to serve God in their own lives, even in small ways.

Lord, as temptations come my way today, let me think on you and call out to you.  Let me not be afraid, but excited that through overcoming temptation.  "Peace is not found by escaping temptations, but by being tried by them.  We will discover peace when we have been tried and come through the trial of temptation."  You are my strength and my hope.  Amen.

I want to work more on the "tail end" of temptation.  I want to be able to use temptation to further my walk with God.  I see that through temptation, I can become aware of my weakness and where I need God more in my life.  Also, I can see where the flesh has more sway to complain by seeing where I crave satisfaction and appreciation most.  I want to be mindful of this.  Only in this will virtue become implanted in my life in the places I need it most instead of in places where I will be tempted to make a show of it.