Matthew 4:1-2 (KJV)
Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
When Seyi got into the university, he didn’t resume on time because he found out about his admission late. Because of this, he didn’t make the best arrangements for his accommodation and had to end up in the same hostel with some really bad boys.
Before Seyi accepted the Lord Jesus, he used to be addicted to drugs and alcohol. Because he understood the temptation he would have to face every day with these new roommates who were drug and alcohol addicts, he determined that the way he would survive spiritually was to rev up his prayer [and fasting] life. He started praying and fasting four times more than he normally did before he moved to that hostel. During this period, he so grew spiritually that he started walking very easily in the prophetic. He never fell for the temptations he so feared because through devotional to prayer and ministry of the word, he was spiritually strong to withstand the temptations. Two of those his roommates became his converts during that period.
We see in today’s Bible verses that Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. It doesn’t sound right. How would the Holy Spirit lead Jesus to be tempted? Why and for what purpose?
It was necessary for Jesus to be tempted and be without sin so that He can be a qualified high priest who understands what it means for us to be tempted(see Heb 4:15). But the tempter wouldn’t have been able to tempt Jesus if the Holy Spirit did not permit it.
I believe it is on the strength of today’s verse that we can pray God to ‘lead us not into temptation’. Jesus our master has already been led into temptation.
When Jesus was entering a season of temptation, he responded by entering a season of fasting [and prayer]. I believed he did this because he wanted to gather sufficient spiritual might to withstand the temptations. It was after this episode that his ministry began.
Go into today remembering that if there appear to be temptations coming so great that you fear you might fall, the best response is to fire up your prayer life.
Source: Devotional