Anchor My Faith

Lead Us Not Into Temptation

Scripture: Matthew 6:9-11, 13; Luke 11:2, 4

In the previous lesson we covered the fifth petition which was “forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.” In this lesson we will cover the sixth and final petition which is “lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.”

^{Lk 11:2} “And he said to them, “When you pray, say: ^{Mt 6:9} Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. ¹⁰ Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. ¹¹ Give us this day our daily bread, ^{Lk 11:4} and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. ^{Mt 6:13} And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.”’  

In this petition Jesus was addressing the battle one experiences with sin and evil. It is interesting to see in Matthew 4:1 that Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness where he was to be tempted by the devil. Consider Job 1:6 – 12 and the conversation between God and Satan. God points out the fine character of Job, but then Satan explains that Job is like that because of God’s protection and provision. To prove that the accusation was not true, God gave Satan permission to test Job. In both of these examples it appears that God wanted to verify the character of Jesus and Job for others to see, but he did not do the testing himself. “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” (James 1:13 ESV).

The two examples above were to reveal character quality, not to tempt one to sin. The request to “lead us not into temptation” would then most likely mean, “Allow us to be spared from difficult circumstances that would temp us to sin.” Our spirit may be willing, but the flesh is weak, therefore we are to watch and pray that we not enter into temptation (Matthew 26:41). It is so important that we watch and pray because it is inevitable that trials and hardships will come to believers’ lives and when they do James tells us to “Count it all joy” (James 1:2). Even though these trials and hardships are inevitable, we should pray against them because they make obedience more difficult and can sometimes result in sin.

As believers, we should pray to be delivered from temptation, led in “paths of righteousness” (Psalm 23:3) and to be delivered from evil or the evil one. The best protection we have is to turn to God and depend on his direction; to walk by the Spirit and if we do, we will not gratify the desires of the flesh (Galatians 5:16) and be so likely to be tempted.

Conclusion

Older translations include “For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen.” This does not appear in the most reliable and oldest Greek manuscripts and is the reason why most modern translations do not include them. As seen in 1 Chronicles 29:11 – 13, there is nothing theologically incorrect about the wording and therefore it is not inappropriate to include in the prayer.