This is the first prayer in the prayer acronym, T.H.E. W.A.Y.
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Endorsed Prayer: Lead me not into temptation!
T: Lead me not into Temptation!
- "Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one" (Luke 11:4).
Prayerful Observations:
When the disciples asked Jesus how to pray, this is one of the prayers he told them to pray (Luke 11:1-4). Some think it strange to pray this prayer. They think that God would not lead us to be tempted. But, to say that God doesn't lead us into temptation contradicts the prayer. Sometimes the Father sends us on a mission which brings us into temptation. The Father did this with Jesus. Matthew 4:1 states "Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil."
I checked fourteen translations of the Bible. "To be tempted" is the translation of all of them. I don't know of a translation that doesn't translate the passage as "to be tempted".
We know that God does not tempt man from James 1:13. We are tempted by Satan and by our own lusts (Matthew 4:11, James 1:14). But, sometimes God will send us into the path of temptation.
In this prayer, we ask God to "deliver us from the evil one." We must respond to temptation with faith in God, not faith in ourselves. It is God who "knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation", (2 Peter 2:9). It is God who makes "the way of escape", (1 Corinthians 10:13). Christ is "one who has been in all points tempted like we are, yet without sin", (Hebrews 4:15). It is Christ who "is able to help those who are tempted", (Hebrews 2:18). And Christ is in us! (Galatians 2:20).
Now, let's return our attention to the prayer: "Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." The context of this passage is Luke 11:1-4 when Jesus taught the disciples how to pray.
In this prayer we honor the Father, by telling Him that we don't want to dishonor Him by sinning. We are acknowledging that the Father has authority over temptation. Even though the devil tempts man (Matthew 4:1), the Father determines whether we are tempted and how we may be tempted. In the book of Job, Satan asked God for permission to harm Job. Satan's intention was to tempt Job to renounce God (Job 1:11, 2:5). God granted that permission to Satan. Even though Job was perplexed by his suffering, God didn't tell Job why he was suffering. God owes us no explanation.
But God does send us on missions. Ephesians 2:10 tells us that He has predetermined works for us to walk in. And temptations will arise as we walk in those works (Galatians 6:1). As we carry the yoke of Christ to make disciples, we will be tempted by pride, greed, bitterness, coveting, envy, immorality and etc.God is the one who decides what missions we are sent on. We will often find temptation along the way. But He has provided this prayer as one means to prevail over temptation. And He will not send us into a temptation which is too difficult. "God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able, but will with the temptation also make the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it" (1 Corinthians 10:13)
This passage clearly indicates that God will "make the way of escape". One way of escape is this prayer: "Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." This prayer, as one of the Endorsed Prayers, is part of walking in the Sixth Path. In the Sixth Path we continually turn to the Lord. We Turn, Turn, Turn and Behold the Lord!
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