Text of the meditation
Whoever would overcome their enemy, the tempter, must discover its stronghold and place of concealment, and must also find out the unguarded gates in their own fortress where the enemy so easily gains entrance. Temptation, with all its attendant torments, can be overcome here and now, but it can be overcome only with knowledge.
It is a condition of darkness, or of semi-darkness. The fully enlightened soul is proof against all temptation. When a person fully understands the source, nature and meaning of temptation, in that hour they will conquer it, and will rest from their long travail; but while they remain in ignorance, attention to religious observances and much praying and reading of Scripture will fail to bring them peace.
This is the holy warfare of the saints.
James Allen (1864–1912), Book of Meditations for Every Day in the Year (1913) – public-domain text, gently modernised.
The original 1913 text is in the public domain.