Life is full of Temptation.  I aught to know!  I know for me temptation comes in many forms from a good looking drink to a good looking woman.  I am talking about really tempted!  Like you are walking a date up to the door and she asks you to come in and you know if you do then you will end up in the bed with her.  Like going to your favorite drag show at a bar, knowing that you are having a hard time saying no to alcohol and you want a drink. Or say calling in sick because you just want a day to yourself, so you lie to your boss to take it.

So what do we do when tempted?  Good question.  At one time, I would fall into the temptation and do it.  I would sleep with the girl even if I didn't want anything else to do with her.  I would steal money to make it to pay day when I could have asked for help.  I would lie my way out of situations. I was the one who let temptation take me to places that I should have never been.

So what is different now?  I pray.  I ask God to help me.  And biggest thing, I don't go where temptation lies.  I instead get busy in God's work.  I fill my time in church gatherings, going to support groups, helping others, and more.

Getting past temptation is easy when you ask God what the next right step is to take, and then, here is the key, you take it!  You follow His lead!  You say no when everything says yes because you know that the yes is not Godly.  

It isn't easy!  Trust me, now that I know that sex is really enjoyable, I want it again, but I am not married and so therefor I can not just go sleeping around.  I can't even write the stories about sex that I at one time found pleasure in. I am a recovering alcoholic and therefore can't just go have a drink.  I fret over money and can't go stealing things to make ends meet.  I can't do many things because they are not what God wants me to do with my life.

God wants us to live a life that is leaning on Him and doing His good work.  We are to allow Him to give us a way out of temptation.  We are to call out to Him for the strength.  We are to do what He asks of us.  Therefor we have to pray and do what we see as the next right thing.

How do I know what is the next right thing?  To know God's will and next right thing, I have to be in His word.  I must get to know my Savior by knowing what was left for us to learn from about Him.  I have to listen for those personal messages from God.

So to overcome temptation, I must pray, be in God's word, and do the next right thing!