The Lord’s Prayer teaches the heavenly Father can be trusted with all of our needs – past, present, and future. We can pray about present needs: “Give us this day our daily bread.” We can pray about past sins: “and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” We can pray about future trials: “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

The Model Prayer also teaches us to pray about what we need the most. We need divine provision: “Give us this day our daily bread.” We need divine pardon: “and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” We need divine protection: “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

Matthew 6:13 is a parallelism. It begins with a negative petition: “Lead us not into temptation.” It ends with a positive petition: “Deliver us from evil.” Many read the verse as one petition, two different ways of praying the same thing. But this verse records two petitions. The petitions are closely connected. But they are not the statement and restatement of the same request. Two enemies are confronted. The flesh: “and lead us not into temptation.” And the devil: “But deliver us from evil.” We must resist evil within us and evil around us. How do we fight remaining sin within us? We pray, “Lead us not into temptation.”  

James 1:13 says, “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.” God is untemptable. God never temps anyone. Yet Jesus teaches us to pray, “Lead us not into temptation.” Why pray this if God never tempts anyone? An easy answer is that the Greek word for “temptation” can be translated as test, trial, or temptation. God gives tests and trials. God does not give temptations. But this answer is too easy. Words have no meaning without context. The context does not lend itself to translating the noun test or trial. The previous petition asks for forgiveness of debts. The succeeding petition asks for deliverance from evil. Temptation is temptation. It is solicitation to evil. Jesus teaches us to pray the Father will not lead us into temptation. This prayer request is more a statement about us than it is about God. 

The petition begins with the conjunction “and,” which connects verse 13 to verse 12. In verse 12, Jesus teaches us to pray, “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” Then Jesus teaches us to pray, “And lead us not into temptation.”

• “Forgive us” is about our past sins. “Lead us not” is about potential sins. 
• “Forgive us” is about yesterday. “Lead us not” is about tomorrow. 
• “Forgive us” is about the last time. “Lead us not” is about the next time. 

A Sunday School teacher asked her class, “What are sins of commission?” One child answered, “That’s when you do something your mommy told you not to do.” She asked, “What are sins of omission?” Another child answered, “That’s all the sins you haven’t gotten around to yet.” 

Unfortunately, many Christians think it is only a matter of time before they give in to temptation and sin again. It does not have to be that way. The God who gives pardon for the last time can give victory for the next time. Why do we pray, “Lead us not into temptation”? 

The Weakness of the Flesh 

 After the Last Supper, Jesus and the disciples went to the Garden of Gethsemane. Taking Peter, James, and John a little further, Jesus asked them to watch and pray with him. They went to sleep. In Matthew 26:41, Jesus warmed them, “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

The Lord’s warning to his first disciples is the Lord’s warning to all disciples. At any point, you may enter temptation. You may be fully devoted to Christ. You may be mature in the faith. You may be a leader in the church. But you are not immune to temptation. 1 Corinthians 10:12 says, “Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.” The one who thinks, “It could never happen to me,” is a front-running candidate to fall into temptation. It can happen to you! The best counsel for this condition is the command of Christ: Watch and pray. Be watchful and prayerful, because the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. 

 In teaching us to pray, “Lead us not into temptation,” Jesus calls us to be merciful to others. You may know a person’s mistakes. You do not know that person’s motives. Galatians 6:1 says, “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep a watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.” 

Spiritual people gently restore fallen people, recognizing that no one is beyond temptation. You may have a spirit that is willing to do right. Yet you may enter into temptation because your flesh is weak. In the Bible, there are many stories about the sins of wicked people who determine to do wrong. There are also many stories about the sins of weak people who determine to do right. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

• You may be alone like Eve, who was deceived into sin by the tempter’s lies. 
• You may be scared like Abraham, who lied and said his wife was his sister. 
• You may be angry like Moses, who struck the rock and lost his reward. 
• You may be idle like David, who seduced Bathsheba and murdered Uriah. 
• You may be tired like Elijah, who fell into depression as he fled Ahab and Jezebel. 
• You may be racist like Jonah, who hated foreign people God loved.  
• You may be proud like Peter, who denied Jesus after vowing to die with him. 

Derek Thomas wrote: “The growing Christian grows in recognition of his frailties.” The evidence that your faith is growing up is that you recognize how weak you are. But don’t just recognize the weakness of your flesh. Resist it through believing prayer. Prayer is not pretty religious language that entertains what we think God wants to hear. We can tell God like it is – the good, the bad, and the ugly. Through Christ, we can pray with confidence that God will lead us. 

Psalm 23:3 says, “He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” We can trust where the Lord will lead us. We can trust where the Lord will not lead us. With the same assurance, we pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” and we also pray, “Lead us not into temptation.” 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, “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.

I am weak, and I need Thy strength and power 
To help me over my weakest hour 
Let me through the darkness, Thy face to see
Lead me, O Lord, lead me. 

Lead me, guide me, along the way 
For if you lead me, I cannot stray 
Lord, let me walk each day with Thee 
Lead me, O Lord, lead me. 

The Sinfulness of Sin 

James 1:13 makes a categorical assertion: God is never the source of temptation. Where does temptation come from? James 1:14-15 says, “But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” Do not blame God for temptation. For that matter, do not blame Satan. “The Devil made me do it,” is good comedy, bad theology. We only have ourselves to blame for temptation. All around us, there are solicitations to sin. But temptation would not have any power over us if there was no iniquity in us. 

We see the sins of others and say, “I cannot believe they did that. How can they do that? I would never do that?” This is foolish talk. You should say, “But for the grace of God, there go I.” Never boast about sin you have not committed. Most definitely, do not brag about overcoming sin that is not a real temptation to you. We are all tempted by something. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” There are sinful desires in us that we are not even aware of. The only reason we have not committed certain sins is because we lacked opportunity. The Lord did not lead us into temptation. But when temptation hooks up with opportunity, sin is conceived. 

Sin is the most awful, horrible, terrible thing in the world. We all have problems. My problem may not be your problem. Your problem may not be my problem. But our biggest problem is the same. We are sinners. The world is filled with problems. But our biggest problem is that God is holy, and we are not. 

• We have violated God’s holiness. 
• We have offended God’s character. 
• We have disobeyed God’s commands. 
• We have rejected God’s authority. 
• We have belittled God’s goodness. 

 This is the sinfulness of sin. Sin is sinful, not just because of the consequences of it; but also because of the nature of it. The holy justice of God demands sin be punished. Romans 6:23 says, “The wages of sin is death.” Sin deserves the death penalty. But what God demands, God provides. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” This is the great exchange! At the cross, the sinless one became sin for us. He became our substitute. He paid our sin-debt for us. But that’s not all God did for us. Through the cross, sinners become the righteousness of God in Christ. We are justified by faith alone. We stand before God clothed in the righteousness of Christ. 

If you have not received the handout of amazing grace, run to the cross! If you have run to the cross, stay near the cross. Pray, “Lead us not into temptation.” Refuse to go back to the sin for which the Savior died for you! Romans 6:1-4 says, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you now know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” 

The Pursuit of Holiness 

This petition makes it clear that The Lord’s Prayer is actually The Disciples’ Prayer. True disciples do not seek “cheap grace.” Cheap grace seeks forgiveness without repentance. True disciples pray for our sins to be forgiven and forsaken. Only disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ pray, “Lead us not into temptation.”  

• This is a prayer of one who knows what it means to live in sin. 
• This is a prayer of one who knows what it costs God to extend rescuing grace in Christ.
• This is a prayer of one looks at the past life of sin and the new life of grace and determines to never go back to what you used to be. 

Romans 12:1 says, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” To pray “Lead us not into temptation” is to heed the call to be a living sacrifice. It is to live on the altar as an offering of worship to God. It is to pursue holiness. How do you pursue holiness? You pursue holiness by avoiding temptation. This petition is a life to be lived, not just a prayer to be prayed. To pray the prayer without living the life is hypocrisy. You cannot pray “Let me not into temptation” if you are looking for temptation. Daniel Doriani said, “We should structure our lives so that it is harder to sin.”

Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery. He was carried to Egypt, where he became the servant of a man named Potiphar. When Potiphar was away, his wife tried to seduce Joseph. “Lie with me,” she said. Joseph did not lie down with Potiphar’s wife and pray, “Lead us not into temptation.” Without words, he prayed this petition by his actions. Joseph ran out of the house as fast as he could. He lost his coat. But he kept his integrity. There is a time to fight. There is a time to flee. To flee is not to abandon the fight. We fight by fleeing. The best way to overcome temptation is to avoid temptation. 

Avoid people that may tempt you. 1 Corinthians 15:33 says, “Do not deceived: Bad company ruins good morals.” But it does not take bad company to ruin good morals. We are so weak that even good company can have a corrupting influence. I know pastors who are very wealthy men. There is nothing wrong with that. But I have to be careful about the time I spend around them, so that I am not tempted to put a price tag on my ministry. 

Avoid practices that may tempt you.  In Matthew 5:29-30, Jesus says, “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.” Jesus is not teaching godliness through self-mutilation. He is teaching us not to give sin a chance. Cut yourself off from any activity that gives opportunity to the flesh. 

Avoid places that may tempt you. Proverbs 6:27-28, “Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned? Or can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched?” It makes no sense to step into a fire and pray you will not get burned. Stay out of the fire. Charles Spurgeon captured the heart of this petition: “The burnt child dreads the fire.” Sin burns! The grace can heal the burns of sin. But the recipient of healing grace does not want to ever suffer the burns of sin again. Thus, we pray, “Lead us not into temptation.”

Three men were talking about the Lord. One man eloquently testified about how God changed his life. Another graphically described how God brought him out of his past life. The third man could not talk well. So he took them outside and started a fire. Then he dug up a worm and placed it in the fire. But right in the nick of time, he rescued the worm from the fire. Then he said to his friends, “That’s what the Lord has done for me.” 

Alas! and did my Savior bleed
And did my Sovereign die? 
Would He devote that sacred head 
For such a worm as I? 

At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light 
And the burden of my heart rolled away
It was there by faith I received my sight 
And now I am happy all the day!