Lead Us Not into Temptation

 “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 ‭7:21-23‬ ‭NIV‬‬

https://www.bible.com/111/pro.7.21-23.niv

Temptation is a persuasive siren, singing melodious songs that eat at our craven heart.  It is wily and deceitful and it swallows whole those that do not stand guard.  Surely it hoists its poisonous petard on desires that lie naked waiting to be kindled like fire.  Instant gratification, selfish ambition, presumptive power all lie in wake at the command of its snare.

Oh Lord I pray, give me the strength to ward off this discordant Melody inimical to my soul.  Erase from me the desires of my loins, the gnawing hunger at the pit of my empty belly, the conceit in my eyes, the bellows of my own groaning pride and wayward ambitions.  Lead me to you, to serve and love only you as I walk through the shadows in The Valley of Death.