A Prayer for Strength to Face Temptation

The hymn of the day for Trinity 16 is The Will of God is Always Best (LSB 758). The Gospel is the resurrection of the widow’s son in Nain (Lk 7:11-17). The third stanza puts a petition in the mouth of the singer. I find it strikingly different and vastly superior to my own feeble prayers. In LSB it reads thus:

Lord, this I ask, O hear my plea, Deny me not this favor:
When sorely Satan troubles me, Then do not let me waver.
O guard me well, My fear dispel, Fulfill Your faithful saying:
All who believe by grace receive An answer to their praying.

I am prone to ask that God deliver me from temptation or drive the devil away from me, but here the poet asks not for relief but for strength. He does not want out of the trial, but rather to faithfully endure it, to suffer and persevere. He sees the temptation even at the hand of Satan himself as a holy chastisement from a loving Father. This is a prayer I need to learn to pray.

The picture attached to this post is David Goggins, an ultramarathon runner, who just might be the toughest man alive.