When author Bill Frey was 11 years old, he tried to get a big stump out of his front yard. For hours he dug and chopped and crowbarred, but the stump wouldn’t budge. In the middle of the project, Bill’s dad came home and watched his son sweating up a storm. The father commented, “You’re not using all your strength.” The exhausted kid screamed back in frustration, but his father just smiled, “You’re not using all your strength. You haven’t asked me to help.”

Your heavenly Father is saying the same thing about the temptation you’re facing. That same-old sin might feel like a stump stuck in the ground that won’t budge despite all your best efforts. But listen to Paul’s words: “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful” (1 Corinthians 10:13).

The temptation you’re facing is not new, even if it’s new to you. Your Father has seen his kids tempted by that very sin a billion times just this year, and he has helped millions of them overcome. God wants to help you too. God is faithful, meaning he’s committed to his promise to be with you as you face temptation, to give you his Spirit when you feel weaker than your temptation, to forgive you of your sins when you fall into temptation, and to raise up fellow Christians who can help encourage you in the face of that temptation.

So, child of God, ask your Father to help!