5 Scriptures to Help You Overcome Temptation

1.      3 Nephi 18:15, 18-19  Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye must watch and pray always, lest ye be tempted by the devil, and ye be led away captive by him. Behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, ye must watch and pray always lest ye enter into temptation; for Satan desireth to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. Therefore ye must always pray unto the Father in my name;

The Savior is the only one who ever lived who was perfectly righteous.  Even though he was tempted in all the same ways that we are, he never gave in, and he faithfully followed His Father in all things, and he lived a wholly sinless life (see Hebrews 4:14-15).  This makes Christ the unopposed champion of resisting temptation.  Not only do we have his powerful example of obedience to guide us, but he also left us valuable teachings concerning how best to resist temptation and how to avoid it when possible. Given Christ’s sinless life and example, it makes sense to look carefully at the things he taught about resisting temptation.  Namely, he exhorted His disciples to “watch and pray always lest ye enter into temptation.”

Why is it that constant prayer so effective a remedy in staving off temptation?  One answer has to do with the fact that the devil never sleeps.  He and his angels have nothing better to do than to try to lead you astray, and he is obsessed with your destruction.  I don’t know what it feels like to be sifted as wheat, but if Satan wants to do it to you, you can bet it’s not pleasant.  The only way to combat an enemy that never rests is to turn to God, who will never rest in providing and guiding us in the way to joy and salvation.   God is more powerful than the devil, and his voice can dispel the seductive tendrils of temptation.  We need Him in our lives, and prayer is the way for us to access God and His power.  That is why the devil works so hard to get us to neglect the habit and practice of prayer in our lives.

5 Scriptures to Help You Overcome a Faith Crisis

1.      Ether 12:6  And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.

If you are experiencing doubt, or even a crisis of faith, don’t despair.  All who desire a witness of the truth of the gospel must endure a trial of faith (or several).  Part of that trial is the expectation that we are to strive to cultivate faith before we obtain evidence that our faith is not in vain.  In fact, Paul goes so far as to preach that faith is, in itself, the evidence which we seek:

Hebrews 11:1  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

The apostle Peter taught that our faith will be refined if we maintain it even as we experience the fires of doubt.  If we love God, and believe in him, even “though now ye see him not,” we are promised that we will receive our sought after witness, the end (or object) of our faith. If you will stay faithful, even when “ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations [and trials]” (see 1 Peter 1:6), your faith will be rewarded, and you can "rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.”

1 Peter 1:7-9  That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:  Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:  Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

The Truth About Faith

Ask any young person in the church to explain the principle of faith and odds are they will recite Alma 32:21 to you and leave it at that.

“And now as I said concerning faith—faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true.”

This is a wonderful scripture, and it is a good one to have memorized, but I feel that if you depend on this verse alone for your understanding of the principle of faith you will find that your ability to understand and apply it in your life will be somewhat lacking.

I find that the apostle Paul provides another description of faith which at first sounds similar to the one which Alma gave, but upon closer examination you will see that Paul is teaching us much more deeply about the nature and uses of faith.

Hebrews 11:1  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

When all you have is Alma’s definition of faith as rendered in Alma 32:21, you might think that faith is a rather passive principle in which one holds a vague hope in unseen forces which seem largely beyond your control.  Faith in this scenario seems to be an ill-defined hope, based on vague and even insubstantial evidence, in something that happens to be true.

If this is how you understand faith as a principle, it is no wonder that enemies of religion accuse Christians of blind faith, and enemies of the LDS church accuse its members of blindly following the prophet and their leaders.

Paul’s description of faith which he gave to the Hebrews shows us that faith does not need to be, nor should it be, blind or passive.  His teachings help us to understand that faith, rather than being a vague hope in an unseen truth, is in itself the concrete evidence and the substance upon which we can rely for the foundation of our belief in said truth.  With the assurance provided by such reliable evidence we can make decisions with confidence and take concrete action.

How to Overcome Temptation and Trials: Why the Sunday School Answers are not Enough

There is a misconception about the so-called Sunday school answers (prayer and scripture study and church attendance) that I wish to dispel:

The acts of prayer and scripture study and even church attendance, while vital components in our personal efforts to become more like Christ, do not of themselves confer upon anyone any kind of talismanic protection, be that from temptation, trial, or depredation.

Case in point:  it is common to hear people who are presented with a grievous spiritual challenge such as same gender attraction, or an addiction of some kind, etc.  who declare that they feel that if only they could pray even harder and be even more diligent in studying their scriptures then they might be able to "fix" themselves.  Their hope is that by being "more righteous than righteous" they can somehow demonstrate to God the sincerity of their desire to be rid of the "thorn in the flesh" which plagues them.  They are inevitably disappointed in this effort, which often leads to disillusionment and frustration on their part, and more often than not this leads them to give up on themselves and/or the church, or even God.

Christ and the Healing Power of the Atonement

 Q: I was wondering if you have some good advice on how to strengthen your faith in Christ's ability to heal you?

A: My answer will be in two parts: The first will deal with Christ, and his power to heal all wounds (both physical and spiritual) through the atonement. The latter portion will deal with the faith that each individual must exercise in order that we might more fully partake of the power of the atonement. (p.s. I think some of the best stuff is at the end, so read the whole thing so it will make sense to you.)