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Why Do I Keep Struggling with the Same Temptation?

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Answered by True Bible Teachings AI on 6/26/2026

1) Direct Answer
You keep meeting the same temptation because the old nature is still being fed, a door has been left open, and the battle is being fought too much in your own strength instead of walking in the Spirit. Victory comes by full surrender to Jesus Christ, the infilling of the Holy Ghost, and cutting off the provisions that keep the cycle alive.

2) Scriptural Explanation
- The Bible says there’s a war inside: “Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh… the flesh lusteth against the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16-17).
- God promises a way out every time: “God… will with the temptation also make a way to escape” (1 Corinthians 10:13).
- The door must be shut: “Make not provision for the flesh” (Romans 13:14). “Neither give place to the devil” (Ephesians 4:27).
- Watch and pray or you’ll enter into it again (Matthew 26:41).
- Real power is by the Spirit: “If ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live” (Romans 8:13). “Be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18).
- Bring it into the light: “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy” (Proverbs 28:13; 1 John 1:9).
- Overcome by the Blood and the Word: “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony” (Revelation 12:11).
- Flee what inflames it: “Flee… youthful lusts” (2 Timothy 2:22).
- Arm yourself with the Word: Jesus answered every temptation with “It is written” (Matthew 4:1-11; Ephesians 6:17; Psalm 119:11).

3) Simple Clarifying Logic
- You can’t starve and feed the same thing at once. If you feed the flesh, it rules; if you feed the inner man, he rules.
- Temptation returns where a door is still unlocked. Shut the door, and the thief loses access.
- Willpower alone grows weary; the Holy Ghost never does. Victory is not by grit but by surrender—Christ living in you.

Practical steps
- Repent specifically: Name the sin to God; renounce it. Ask for cleansing by the Blood (1 John 1:7-9).
- Shut the doors: remove triggers, access points, and companions that lead you there (Romans 13:14; Matthew 5:29-30).
- Submit and resist: First submit to God, then resist the devil; he will flee (James 4:7). Don’t argue with temptation—flee it (2 Timothy 2:22).
- Fill, don’t just empty: Seek to be filled with the Holy Ghost daily (Acts 2:38-39; Ephesians 5:18). Pray, worship, and keep the Word in your mouth.
- Use the Sword: Memorize two or three Scriptures that answer your specific battlefield; speak them when the thought first knocks (Matthew 4; Psalm 119:11).
- Stay in the light: Walk in fellowship; confess your faults to a faithful, praying believer (James 5:16). Isolation fuels bondage; light breaks it.
- Watch and pray: Set times for prayer and the Word; temptation thrives where watchfulness is absent (Matthew 26:41).
- If you stumble: Don’t settle. Run to the Blood at once, get up, and keep walking (Proverbs 24:16; 1 John 2:1).

Short reinforcement
Now notice, God has already provided the escape and the power. Yield to the Spirit, close the doors of the flesh, take the Word in your mouth, and walk on. The same Jesus who saved you can keep you.

What did the Laodicean Church Age (our age) Angel (- messenger) Say about this?

Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.

SermonRelevance 100

How can I overcome?

Sunday morning, the 25th of August of 1963 at the Branham Tabernacle in Jeffersonville, Indiana, U.S.A.

63-0825M §61

Notice, each church age, the same overcome when they, each---some out of each church age overcome the temptation of that age. I got the Scriptures here; I don't think we really have time to make it. But we know... Each one of the church ages. Same now, it's just like someone who is... See, as I said at the beginning, you are born defeated. And that birth can never bring you to life, because you're born defeated. And you're in a defeated world amongst defeated people that got---amongst defeated creeds, defeated deno...

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SermonRelevance 97

How can I overcome?

Sunday morning, the 25th of August of 1963 at the Branham Tabernacle in Jeffersonville, Indiana, U.S.A.

63-0825M §73

Remember, Jesus showed us how it's done. Forty days of temptation, He was tempted above any man that ever could be that was tempted, in the temptation of Jesus Christ. Now, watch. He showed us how it's done. (Now, I will close just in a few minutes.) Look, He showed us how it's done. How did He do it? By the Word. That's how He done it, for He was the Word. And Jesus said, "If ye abide in me, and my word's in you..." you're back to the Word again, the Word of promise. What is the Word of promise to every Christian?...

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SermonRelevance 97

How can I overcome?

Sunday morning, the 25th of August of 1963 at the Branham Tabernacle in Jeffersonville, Indiana, U.S.A.

63-0825M §54

Well, Lot's wife did the same thing, you know. She set out to go with Lot, follow her husband, her children, her loved ones, but it wasn't in her heart. She still loved the world. So it's possible you can make a start and still be the world in you. See, she never overcome. And even though she was well on the road, it finally overthrowed her. She had to take that one big, long, last look. There's where she got caught. Don't even look back! Don't have no desires! Keep going! Put your mind on Calvary and keep moving t...

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SermonRelevance 93Broader match

How can I overcome?

Sunday morning, the 25th of August of 1963 at the Branham Tabernacle in Jeffersonville, Indiana, U.S.A.

63-0825M §68

Look. Temptation was for Him. You know that? The Bible said He was tempted in all points like we are yet without sin. He was tempted by drinking; He was tempted by women; He was tempted by everything that could be tempted by. He was tempted by everything that we are; He was a man. And yet you couldn't put a mark on Him. Yes, sir! Overcome means "to recognize the devil at every one of his tricks." Lot of people says there is no devil; it's just a thought. Don't you believe that. There's a real devil. He's just as re...

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SermonRelevance 87Broader match

How can I overcome?

Sunday morning, the 25th of August of 1963 at the Branham Tabernacle in Jeffersonville, Indiana, U.S.A.

63-0825M §89

I know you keep saying to me. I know you're saying all the time ... I know you get tired of me harping on these things. I get tired seeing you do it too. This sin that I'm trying to tell you about... Say, "What are you harping on it for?" Stop doing it then! Trying to save your life by the Word. I get tired also. So just straighten up. This is a sin, shouldn't be done. Yes, sir! If we are to overcome these things, we're expected to be tempted by them, the world. "If you love the world, the things of the world, the...

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