Jesus Said To Pray Like This – Part 6 of 7

A Deeper Look At The Lord’s Prayer

Matthew 6:9-13

After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

In this post we will be looking at the 6th and last petition of this model prayer: “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil”

It’s very fitting that in the previous post in the series we talked about forgiveness of sins and in this article, we look at the prevention of sins. This keeps us away from an attitude that says I can sin all I want and all I have to do is ask for forgiveness. The person who has been made new hates his/her sin and yet, at times will fall victim to sin, but he/she never charges into it without conviction.

Notice the plural form in the verse we are looking at “Lead us not” and “Deliver us from,” It’s a corporate prayer. We are not to be a people just about ourselves, we are to be praying for our brothers and sisters as well.

Also, notice the word “Lead,” we have seen this in the beginning and throughout this prayer. This points to God’s sovereignty over all things. This begs a couple of questions.

Can the Lord lead us out of temptation? Can the Lord keep us from sinning?

These are good questions and in scripture, we see this is a common cry of God’s people.

Psalm 141:4

Do not let my heart incline to any evil, to busy my self with wicked deeds in company with men who work iniquity, and let me not eat of their delicacies!

Psalm 25:5

Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.

Matthew 26:41

Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. “

However, we need to be aware that God does not do the tempting

James 1:13

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.

So, where does temptation come from? Within scripture, we see three places temptation to sin can enter into our lives.

From our Own Desires

James 1:14

But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.

From Satan

Mark 1:13

And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.

Ephesians 6:11

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

From the World

1 John 2:16

For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world.

No doubt our desires are wicked at times and that causes us to fall into temptation, but the fact is you don’t have to look very far, everything, everywhere is waging war against us.

Here are just a few examples:

• Revealing clothing
• Studies show that the average Junior High student looks at pornography regularly on the Internet.
• Television- Murders, violence, sex.
• The temptations to have a nicer car or a nicer house out of envy or covetousness.
• Advertisements telling us that you can’t live without this stuff.

Why should we have to pray “Lead me not into temptation”

Doesn’t this seem like a no-brainer? Do we need to pray for something that should be God’s will for us already, or Does God want us to be tempted?

The short and overly simplified answer is yes, sometimes God wants us to be tempted because some good things can come out of it. After all, our Lord himself was led by the Spirit to be tempted.

Matthew 4:1

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

What good can come from being tempted?

• We can come to recognize our own weakness which causes us to rely more on God. It humbles us, takes away our sinful pride.
• We can experience God’s mercy and grace in the midst of temptation.
• We can grow in maturity, we can be refined like gold in the midst of the fire, it conforms us into the image of Christ.
• To prove our faith, like Job, be tempted and not sin.
• To make us more meek toward others, When we see how we can struggle with temptation we will act more merciful toward others who are struggling with temptation.

So, if temptation can do so much good why would we pray to escape it?

It isn’t a sin to be tempted but to give in to the temptation is. The reality is that sometimes we don’t come out victorious and we commit sin against our God. The prayer to escape the temptation is our reliance on the Lord to deliver us.

The fact is we need to enter temptation and be delivered from it because sometimes we can go through a lot of pain and misery. It’s like war, sometimes it accomplishes good, sometimes it’s necessary, you may even go to war and come out of the other side a war hero, but we should never want to go to war.

Deliver Us from Evil

The literal translation of this could be “Deliver us from the Evil One”

1 Peter 5:8

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

How does God Deliver Us?

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.

God gives us the strength to resist through submission to Him.

James 4:7

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Jesus did it by quoting scripture in the desert.

God tells us to flee from sin.

1 Corinthians 6:18

Flee from sexual immorality…

1 Corinthians 10:14

Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.

Through the pursuit of Godly things

1 Timothy 6:10-11

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. But as for you, O man of God, flee these things…

2 Timothy 2:22

So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

Do whatever it takes to escape temptation

Matthew 18:7-9

Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.

We should be so satisfied with God and what He offers, that nothing in this world should even compare.

I think the take away from this petition is obvious, we need to take sin serious, and even the temptation that leads to sin serious. We need to ask God to rescue us from that temptation, and if we have fallen into temptation, there is deliverance and even forgiveness.

If you’re reading this and you don’t know the God who can set you free from the world, it is no accident that you are here today, and today can be the day of salvation for you.

The Bible says in:

Romans 10:9

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

If the Lord right now is convicting you of sin and making you aware of your need for forgiveness and deliverance. Confess your sin to Him and believe in the work that Jesus accomplished on that cross and the Bible says, you will be saved.