Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
And Jehovah said unto Moses, Why criest thou unto Me? speak unto the sons of Israel, that they set forward. And thou, lift up thy rod, and stretch out thy hand over the sea, and cleave it asunder; and the sons of Israel shall come into the midst of the sea on the dry. And I, behold I harden the heart of the Egyptians, and they shall come after them; and I will be glorified in Pharaoh, and in all his army, in his chariots, and in his horsemen. And the Egyptians shall know that I am Jehovah, when I am glorified in Pharaoh, in his chariots, and in his horsemen (Exodus 14:15-18).Why criest thou unto Me? That this signifies that there was no need of intercession, is evident from the signification of "crying unto Jehovah," as being to intercede, namely, for liberation from temptation. Hence "Why criest thou unto Me?" denotes why dost thou intercede when there is no need of intercession? and therefore it follows, "speak unto the sons of Israel, that they go forward," by which is signified that they shall have aid, but that still the temptation will be continued, even until they are prepared.
As to there being no need of intercession, the case is this. They who are in temptations are wont to slack their hands and betake themselves solely to prayers, which they then ardently pour forth, not knowing that prayers will not avail, but that they must fight against the falsities and evils which are being injected by the hells. This fight is performed by means of the truths of faith, which help because they confirm goods and truths against falsities and evils. Moreover in the combats of temptations, the man ought to fight as of himself, but yet acknowledge and believe that it is of the Lord —
Stand still, and see the salvation of Jehovah. That this signifies salvation from the Lord alone, and not at all from them, is evident from the signification of "standing still and seeing," as being to have faith; and from the signification of "the salvation of Jehovah," as being salvation from the Lord. Here, where the subject treated of is liberation from temptations, the meaning is salvation from the Lord alone, and not at all from them. It is here said that they must have faith that salvation is from the Lord alone, and not at all from them, because this is the main thing of faith in temptations. He who when he is tempted believes that he can resist from his own strength, yields; the reason is that he is in what is false, and that he therefore attributes merit to himself, and thus demands to be saved of himself, and thus shuts out the influx from the Divine. But he who believes that the Lord alone resists in temptations, conquers; for he is in the truth, and attributes the merit to the Lord, and perceives that he is saved by the Lord alone. He who is in the faith of charity ascribes everything of salvation to the Lord, and nothing to himself. (Arcana Coelestia 8172)
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Jehovah shall wage war for you. That this signifies that the Lord alone sustains the combats of temptations, is evident from the signification of "to wage war for you," when said about Jehovah in temptations, as being that He sustains alone the combats of temptations. That the Lord alone sustains the combats of temptations, and conquers, is because the Divine alone can conquer the hells. Unless the Divine acted against them, they would rush in like a vast ocean, one hell after another, for the resisting of which man is of not the slightest avail; and the less so because in respect to what is his OWN, man is nothing but evil, thus is hell, from which the Lord then withdraws him, and afterward withholds him. (Arcana Coelestia 8176)If man does not fight as of himself, the good and truth which flow in through heaven from the Lord are not appropriated to him; but when he fights as of himself, and still believes that it is of the Lord, then they are appropriated to him. From this he has an OWN [proprium] that is new, which is called the heavenly own, and which is a new will.
Moreover they who are in temptations, and not in some other active life than that of prayers, do not know that if the temptations were intermitted before they had been fully carried through, they would not be prepared for heaven, and thus could not be saved. For this reason, moreover, the prayers of those who are in temptations are but little heard; for the Lord wills the end, which is the salvation of the man, which end He knows, but not the man; and the Lord does not heed prayers that are contrary to the end, which is salvation. He who conquers in temptations is also confirmed in the truth stated above; whereas he who does not conquer entertains a doubt with respect to the Divine aid and power, because he is not heard; and then sometimes, because he slacks his hand, he partly yields.
From all this it can be seen what is meant by there being no need of intercession, namely, that prayer is not to be relied upon. For in prayer from the Divine it is always thought and believed that the Lord alone knows whether it is profitable or not; and therefore the suppliant submits the hearing to the Lord, and immediately after prays that the will of the Lord, and not his own, may be done, according to the Lord's words in His own most grievous temptation at Gethsemane (Matt. 26:39, 42, 44).
(from Arcana Coelestia 8179)