Over the past several weeks, we’ve been walking through the Lord’s Prayer together. We began by looking at how Jesus teaches us to approach God as both our loving Father and our holy King. From there, we prayed for His will to be done and His Kingdom to become manifested in the lives of all believers. We also saw the importance of trusting Him daily for our needs. Last week, we focused on forgiveness, receiving God’s grace for our own sins and extending that same grace to others, knowing that unforgiveness damages our relationship with Him. With all of that in place, we now come to the final request of the prayer in Matthew 6:13.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
The Greek word for Temptation, “peirasmos” can be understood to mean “to be tested” or “enticed to sin.” The question becomes, which is it?
Read James: 1:13-14
Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.
But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.
Ask: According to this verse, does God tempt people to sin?
According ot James, no, God does not tempt people to sin.
Ask: So, where does temptation to sin come from?
According to this verse, the temptation to sin is based on your succumbing to your own personal desires. The New International Version puts it this way:
“…but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.”
This dragging away illustrates well how sin literally pulls us away from what God has for us. That said, why would we ask God not to do something that He can’t do? It’s like asking a squirrel to drive you to school safely! It’s incomprehensible to ask for such a thing on multiple levels. So then the logical understanding of temptation here is testing. But what’s the point of testing?
Read James 1:2-4
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Ask: What’s the point of testing according to this passage?
The point of going through testing is to build up our faith and make us stronger Christians. On the surface, it doesn’t make sense for us to ask God not to test us when we know he does. At the same time, however, we know that the scriptures tell us to rejoice in persecution while also telling us to run from it. It tells us that in the last days there will be wars, but also tells us to pray for peace.
It’s not that these things are opposite, but that they go together. Yes, rejoice in persecution because that means that God is moving, but get out of the way so that you’re safe. Yes, there’s going to be wars because mankind is evil, but pray for peace so that they see how good our God is, and that people will be safe.
So what are we looking for when we say “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one?”
Take a look at 1 Corinthians 10:13
No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
When we pray this, we are asking God a few things…
- Lord, open my eyes to the things around me so that I recognize the traps of the enemy
- When I walk into a place where you’re testing me, help me to see the way out of the situation.
As we go into the Prayer Center today, pray through all aspects of the Lord’s prayer. Let’s make sure we come with the right posture and attitude as we recognize God as a loving father, but also holy. Let’s pray for God’s will to be done in our lives and for wisdom on how to operate in a way that reflects his Kingdom. Let’s pray for our actual needs. Let’s pray for God’s forgiveness, and take a moment to ask God to help us forgive others. Then, as we wrap up, pray for God to open your eyes to things that the enemy has put in place to pull you away from Him. Ask God for wisdom to get through those things, and as we walk through hard times, pray that God strengthens us.
Adventures in Student Ministry 