Vasta N. Kamara

Part 1: IS THAT YOU LORD?

Lessons from Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness

Mathew 4:1-11 reads

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted^[a] by the devil. ² After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. ³ The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

⁴ Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’^[b]”

⁵ Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. ⁶ “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
    and they will lift you up in their hands,
    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’^[c]”

⁷ Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’^[d]”

⁸ Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. ⁹ “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

¹⁰ Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’^[e]”

¹¹ Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

Let’s think about this for a minute. Satan did not appear to Jesus as a serpent, a person or a disguised being. It was a voice that Jesus heard.  

When you take time off to seek the Lord, to pray and fast, you expect to hear God speaking to you through a voice on the inside of you or through his word or whatever form. Not much thought is given to the possibility of the devil interrupting this quality time. Jesus had been praying and fasting forty days and nights.

So how could Jesus have known that it was the devil tempting him and not a divine intervention from his father to save him from dropping dead? Is it the fact that he was the son of God that made him recognize the devils voice? No. I don’t think so. Jesus was a much human as we are and so there was a possibility of Jesus mistaking the devils voice for God’s voice. The devil knew that he had a chance with Jesus. So he gave it his best shot.

What the devil underestimated was the power plugging into the word, praying and fasting gives to a child of God. When plugged into God, you can sniff a disguised spirit even before it starts to speak.

 

Take out: Not every voice you hear while praying or fasting is God speaking. Be careful not to be deceived by the evil one. If in doubt ask the Holy Spirit.