Luke 22:40
“And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation.”
Have you ever heard someone say about another person, “They lost their way?” This is said about someone who allowed something in their life to change who they are. It is the goal of every Christian to serve the LORD to the day they die, but the fact is that many Christians have come and gone through the doors of a church who seemed to lose their way and are no longer serving the LORD. There are two instances where Jesus talks about people losing their way.
The first instance is found in Luke 21:19 when he says, “In your patience possess ye your souls.” God warns the Christian in this verse to protect who you are. A Christian cannot lose their salvation, but many Christians have lost their soul or who they were as a Christian. The second instance of a person losing their way is found in Luke 22:32 where it says, “But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.” It is here that Jesus warned of not allowing your faith to fail. In other words, you have to be careful that you don’t give up on your faith. Many have lost their way and given up on their faith, only to find later they were very close to seeing victory.
What is it that could cause a person to lose their way? When you study these verses you will find that hard times have a way of causing a person to lose their soul. Many Christians have lost their way when times got tough. Nobody enjoys being criticized. Nobody enjoys always being the one attacked; but that is what God was warning us about in Luke 21. You have to be so careful not to lose your way when the battles come. When others attack you for doing right and criticism of what you do is constantly being thrown at you, protect your soul and don’t lose your way.
Furthermore, many Christians lose their way when things didn’t turn out the way they thought they should. Jesus told Peter that He prayed that his faith would not fail. Why would Peter’s faith fail? Because Jesus was going to die and this is not what Peter expected. You have to be so careful not to lose your way when things in the Christian life don’t turn out the way you thought they would. When your children don’t turn out the way you expected, don’t lose your way. When your spouse leaves you because they don’t want to live the Christian life, don’t lose your way. When life does not turn out the way you planned, you must be careful not to lose your way.
How do we prevent ourselves from losing our way? The verse above shows us when it says, “…Pray that ye enter not into temptation.” There are two things that Jesus is implying in this verse. First, prayer has a way of keeping you from the temptation of losing your way. You show me those who have lost their way and I will show you people whose prayer lives were wavering. People who pray don’t lose their way. Second, Jesus was saying that you should daily pray that you are never tempted to lose your way. It is good to regularly pray that God keeps you from the moment of temptation. None of us are above yielding to temptation; therefore, ask Him to keep you from the moment of temptation. If you don’t ever want to lose your way, then keep your prayer time regular. Prayer is the key to keeping you from losing your way.