Praying Scripture: Overcome Temptation

Don't battle temptation using your will power and words. Use Scripture to overcome the advance of the evil one. Read below for more...

Jesus combated the enemy's temptations using Scripture. Luke 4:1-13 Why would you think you could just overcome temptations by sheer will power? Find Scriptures below that match specific temptations you face. Speak these Scriptures out loud. Memorize them and keep speaking them out. Remember - your sword was meant to be used, not just studied!

Temptation to Be Greedy
Matthew 6:19-21 - Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Temptation to Be Proud
1 Peter 5:5-6 - All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.

Temptation to Cheat
Luke 19:8-9 - But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house...."

Temptation to Commit Adultery (in mind, body or emotions)
Matthew 5:27-30 - You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

1 Corinthians 6:18-20 - Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

Temptation to Compare Yourself with Others
Psalm 139:13-14 - For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

Temptation to Get Angry
James 1:19-20 - My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.

Temptation to Gossip
Proverbs 20:19 - A gossip betrays a confidence; so avoid a man who talks too much.

Proverbs 16:28 - A perverse man stirs up dissension, and a gossip separates close friends.

Temptation to Harm Self
1 Corinthians 3:16-17 - Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.

Temptation to Hate (parents, authority, self, etc.)
1 John 2:9-11 - Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.

Temptation to Hoard (food, drinks, internet, entertainment, etc.)
Deuteronomy 8:3 - ...man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

Temptation to Hoard Sleep
Proverbs 6:9-11 - How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest– and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.

Temptation to be Lazy
Hebrews 6:11-12 - We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

Temptation to Lie
Colossians 3:9-10 - Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

Temptation to Listen to Ungodly Music
Matthew 12:35 - The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.

Temptation to Lust
Proverbs 7:21-23 - With persuasive words she led him astray; she seduced him with her smooth talk. All at once he followed her like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer stepping into a noose till an arrow pierces his liver, like a bird darting into a snare, little knowing it will cost him his life.

Proverbs 9:17-18 - Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!” But little do they know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of the grave.

Temptation to Practice Witchcraft (occult games, fortune telling, etc.)
Revelation 21:8 - But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars–their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.

Temptation to Procrastinate
Proverbs 6:6-8 - Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.

Proverbs 24:27 - Finish your outdoor work and get your fields ready; after that, build your house.

Temptation to Rebel Against Authority
Romans 13:1-2 - Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.

Temptation to Steal
Leviticus 19:11 - Do not steal. Do not lie. Do not deceive one another.

Temptation to Swear
Exodus 20:7 - You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

James 5:12 - Above all, my brothers, do not swear–not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your “Yes” be yes, and your “No,” no, or you will be condemned.

Temptation to Tell Rude Jokes
Ephesians 5:4 - Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.

Colossians 3:8 - But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.

Temptation to Worry
Matthew 6:25 - Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?

Philippians 4:6-7 - Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.