| The Golden Gate of Prayer |
Chapter 14 |
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Thus testing always implies the possibility of failure. There is no experience in which we may not sin. There is a wrong alternative in every call to that which is right. Instead of doing the duty, we may neglect it. Instead of making the self-denial or sacrifice, we may decline it. Instead of resisting the sin, we may yield to it. Temptation always brings an opportunity to overcome, to grow stronger. But if we fail to use the opportunity we sin. Robert Browning puts it thus:—
Why comes temptation but for man to meet
And master and make crouch beneath his feet,
And so be pedestalled in triumph? Pray
“Lead us into no such temptations, Lord!”
Yea, but, O thou whose servants fare the bold,
Lead such temptations by the hand and hair,
Reluctant dragons up to who dares fight,
That so he may do battle and have praise.
Looking at temptation in this broader way gives a new meaning to the prayer, “Bring us not into temptation.” Part of Christian faith is the committing of the life to God’s guidance.
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