Temptation in some form or other enters into the common experience of almost everyone. It is continually knocking at the door of consciousness to get in somehow and find lodgment. But while we may not always be able to stop its knocking, it can never get in unless we ourselves unlatch the door.
No matter how great or how negligible a temptation may be, our defense is ever at hand if we are alertly on guard and use the spiritual truths that Mrs. Eddy has so clearly explained. We are not at the mercy of evil suggestions, which argue for both good and evil. Evil is not power, for God is the only power, and man is ever governed by God, the one Mind, the divine source of his being. We are divinely equipped through prayer to utilize these truths, to meet and master the belief of evil and prove the ever-presence of good.
How truly the Master, Christ Jesus, said to his disciples, "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." Matt. 26:41; The Scriptures are filled with instances of temptation overcome and inspiration won by those who stood their guard and enlisted the power of God. Outstanding among these is the account in the Gospel of St. Matthew, where we are told that Jesus had been in the wilderness for forty days and forty nights fasting when the devil came and tempted him.See Matt. 4:1-11;
