A willing spirit needs the power of the Holy Spirit in order to overcome temptation.
On the eve of His crucifixion, Jesus and His disciples went to the garden of Gethsemene to pray. Jesus is agonizing over what is about to take place, and he asks Peter James and John to pray in one spot while he went to another spot. Knowing what was coming, Jesus earnestly prays for another way, but surrenders to the Will of His heavenly Father. He comes back and find the disciples asleep, and tells them, “Watch and pray. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Just before this episode, Jesus predicts that the disciples will desert Him and that Peter will blatantly deny Him three times. Peter and the disciples proudly assert their allegiance to Jesus. It becomes abundantly clear where their confidence lies when Jesus rebukes them – they think they can do it of themselves, but He tells them they must watch and pray.
Likewise with me. I cannot trust in myself to refuse temptation. I must seek the Spirit’s help and power to operate in my spirit so that I may remain faithful to Jesus. Our flesh is too strong for us to overcome. We need to seek God to grant us victory over temptation.
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