God’s Guidance || Learning the Lord’s Prayer || Week 5 (FINALE)

What are we saying when we recite the Lord’s Prayer? It’s a practice for most Christians to say in their daily lives when they get up, go to bed, and at church, among other practices. Yet, how often do we think about and dig deeper into what we are saying to God? Over the next five weeks, I will take the Lord’s Prayer, as told by Jesus in Matthew 6:9-13, apart line-by-line. We will examine what each line is saying and how it’s reflected throughout the rest of the Bible. Let’s dive into it!

Today, we’re going to talk about the last line. It’s Matthew 6:13, which says:

13 And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.

Let’s look at today’s line and see what this means because there’s much to discuss. 

God’s Testing Us?

God doesn’t test humanity. You can see this in James 1:13.

13 And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else.

James points out that every difficult circumstance that comes before us can either strengthen us to lean on God or crumble under temptation. We will have a variety of trails before that can lead us down dark paths, as we see in Job and Peter. Still, God promises us that we will not receive more than we can endure and will give us a way to escape. We will talk about that later. 

This line shows the hope of avoiding the dangers of doing wrong altogether. None of us want to cave into temptation or get tempted altogether, and we want to be kept safe from the world’s dangers. We all want to be safe, and God provides that safety for us. Psalm 91 talks about God as a refuge for us in danger. Let’s continue this discussion. 

God’s Limit 

God knows what we need before we ask. God also promises that the world will tempt none of us more than we can endure. I said we’d talk about that more, so let’s read 1 Corinthians 10:13

13 The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.

This verse connects back to the James 1:13 scripture we talked about earlier. Let me share verses 14 and 15 because they will be pertinent to our discussion. 

14 Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away.

15 These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death. 

Verse 14 talks about us getting lured by our desires. The Greek word “lured” describes the wild game getting trapped. Think about how animals are drawn to death by attractive baits. Temptation promises us something good that is harmful. Our desires refer to the strong desire to do what the world is doing for enjoyment or get what others have because it’s popular. Each of us has unique desires. They may be in the same category in broad terms, but our desires are unique. 

Verse 15 talks about our sinful actions. It’s not a spur-of-the-moment thing but the result of a process. In this context, the Greek words for “give birth” are likened to the process of physical conception and birth. James is personifying temptation and showing that it can follow a similar sequence and produce sin with all its dangers.

What does all of this mean in the context of this line in the Lord’s Prayer? The line shows us the proper attitude we need to have. We ask God not to lead us into temptations, and James and Paul discuss why we shouldn’t get tempted. We ask God to rescue us from the world’s evil, which we know can come from our sinful actions. 

So now we’ll discuss some verses that will help build our understanding of the words and the theme this petition says. Let’s first talk about what it means for God “lead us not into temptation.”

Don’t Cave In

We are in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus goes to pray before he gets arrested. He’s telling the disciples to keep watch for him and not fall asleep. Here is what it says in Matthew 26:41

41 Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!”

Jesus knows that the Spirit will answer their prayers because God answers the prayers of those who ask. He also knows that it’s easy for us to succumb to temptations, especially when it comes to sleep. Think of how emotional this ask must have been for Jesus. He was well-known for the feeling of human struggles – yet never sinned. At this very moment, he wrestled in this struggle against human passions that the divine will must control if sin needed avoidance.

Jesus’s reminder that the body is weak is something he was also probably dealing with now. He just got done praying to God to take this cup of suffering away from him because otherwise, he would get crucified. He knows the human frailty of our physical selves, not to mention what this might be doing to him emotionally and spiritually. Yet, he still commits to doing what God’s plan was all along. The Spirit was still willing to continue on this plan, knowing the human side wanted out altogether. There was a way of escape (which we know in Jesus’s case was his resurrection) that God provided for him. That escape didn’t mean Jesus wouldn’t go through pain. It meant a path to get him to the other side. Sometimes it is easy, and sometimes it is not. Yet, this path for us is always present. 

Now let’s switch gears to talk about what it means for God to deliver us from something. 

God’s Special Delivery 

Hear this from John 17:15

15 I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from evil one. 

Jesus is talking to God right now. He’s asking God to start the final part of this plan. Later in this prayer, Jesus mentions that the world hates the disciples because they continue to follow Jesus and spread the Gospel’s message. Jesus doesn’t want anything harmful to them, so he asks God to keep them safe from the world. 

Jesus said that “keeping them safe from the evil one” refers to protection from Satan and all the evil forces that follow him. Though Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross will defeat Satan, Satan is still causing evil against the believers. Satan wants to destroy believers, but God is their strong protector.

So, to deliver us from evil is to protect us from Satan’s orchestrated evil in the world. It’s a powerful ask because Satan goes after believers to create disdain between them and God, but God’s power will protect us. There are plenty of scriptures that support this. 

I hope you enjoyed this series because it was enjoyable and exciting to create. This series had been my first written series in a long time, and I have a lot of plans for a lot more. We’re going to take a week’s break because the “Let’s Listen To” series is returning, and then we will jump into the new series I’ve been working on called “Deeper Creation.” I’ve been so proud and intrigued by how this series is coming together, and I can’t wait to share it with you. Until then, stay blessed!