We are in our last week studying The Lord’s Prayer as Jesus preached in the Sermon on the Mount. Last week, we covered the most uncomfortable verse, “Forgive us our debts AS WE FORGIVE our debtors.” (Emphasis added.)
Of course, we know the next line. But before we get to that, consider the setup of this prayer. We are to begin with worship and praise. “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” We should then transition to asking for God to take the lead in our lives and our world. “Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Following should be our petition for God to provide our daily needs, not all at once, but each day; whereby a relationship of reliance is formed. “Give us today our daily bread.” And then to keep the clutter of sinfulness and the torment of unforgiveness cleared, we are to pray for forgiveness based on how well we forgive those who have done us wrong. “Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors.”
Since our first week, we’ve used the acronym P.R.A.Y. which stands for praise repent, ask, and yield. And one thing I hope you’re being mindful of is the ratio of these things. How much of your prayer is yielding to God to speak and submitting your life to His will? How much of your time with Him is spent praising Him? What percentage is spent in repentance?
Here in our last week, I’m going to add two letters and change our acronym to P.R.A.Y.E.R. We’ll get to the meaning of E.R. in just a moment.
Today’s verse is:
“13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.” (Matthew 6:13 NIV)
It may sound as if Jesus instructs us to pray that God doesn’t lead us to be tempted. But does God tempt us? Scripture is clear about this. James 1:13 NKJV “13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.”
This is one of those times that looking back at the original Greek word helps us to better understand what’s being said. The original word that was used is peirasmon and it means trial, testing, temptation, calamity, or affliction.[i]
Take a look at the familiar James 1:2. “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds”. In this verse, peirasmon is used for the word “trials”. Now the rest of that sentence in verse 3 reads, “because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.” (James 1:3 NIV)
So, what is meant by “lead us not into temptation” if the word temptation can be substituted with the word “trials” or “afflictions”? To really understand what the purpose of this is, we have to couple it with the next line which is “deliver us from evil.”
“As we look at life’s difficult circumstances, we can sometimes be confused about what this thing is and what it is meant to accomplish. The Bible tells us that there are at least two categories of difficult circumstances: There are tests and there are temptations (James 1:2-15). Both of these exist, but they have very different sources and very different purposes. Every test is an invitation to grow in your faith and draw closer to God; every temptation is an invitation to weaken your faith and push God away. You face that battle every day.”[ii]
We may not always be aware of the battle going on around us, but make no mistake. There is a brutal war happening right now! The spiritual warfare, the supernatural fight against evil forces is real. There are injuries and casualties that mount up each day and we sometimes experience those injuries or casualties firsthand. Ephesians 6:12 CEV “12 We are not fighting against humans. We are fighting against forces and authorities and against rulers of darkness and powers in the spiritual world.”
“The first step in effective spiritual warfare is recognizing the battle.” – Stormie Omartian “We are born into a state of warfare with the forces of evil all around us.” – Billy Graham “The presence of evil in the world is a reality – a sad and unavoidable reality.” – Ravi Zacharias
That’s why Jesus tells us to pray, “Father, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil!” Because we need to be more aware and more prepared for the enemy.
E.R. is enemy recognition.
Praise God. Repent to God. Ask God. Yield to God. And be alert to recognize the enemy!
When we are in a predicament that could be considered a temptation or a test, we need the Holy Spirit’s guidance to tell us where it’s coming from. If it is from Satan, it’s temptation and his ultimate goal is for us to displease God, to hurt our witness, and to produce rotten fruits of sin (pride, lying, hurting one another, betrayals, maliciousness, unforgiveness, etc.). If it’s from God, it’s a test meant to strengthen and mature our faith in Him and give Him glory. If we are the source, then our temptation is being birthed from our sinful nature, our desires of the flesh and we have no one to blame but ourselves. Sometimes, ladies, we are our own enemy.
That’s why we pray to God, “Father, lead me away from any temptation, affliction, test, or calamity that could make me vulnerable to the evil one, but rather, deliver me and lead me into what You want in my life.” This is a daily prayer and some days, it needs to be repeated every hour simply because, we are not fully surrendered to God in every aspect of our lives.
The truth is, “Satan generally chooses to tempt me in that area of my personality that is not yet under the full control of God’s Spirit. He knows full well that I am much more likely to succumb to his inducements where he still can have sway over my person.”
“And the testing becomes a clear demonstration as to who really holds the upper hand in any given area of my life. Does God or does the devil? Consequently, the whole contest for the child of God is one of deciding whether Christ, by His Spirit, controls me, or whether Satan, by means of my old self, manages me.”[iii]
Satan seeks to destroy us; God seeks to deliver us.
“ In the Bible, temptation is an enticement to act in disobedience to God’s will. Its sources are the world, the flesh, and the devil. A test is a situation that God sends or allows in our life with the intention of revealing our loyalties, motivations, character, and commitment to Him and helping to purify, strengthen, and mature us. If successfully passed, a test also glorifies God.”[iv]
If we do anything displeasing or disobedient to God, it makes Satan deliriously happy. We have so many opportunities throughout the day. Every decision, every choice we make is either a point for God or a point for Satan. The final winner has already been announced and God’s team wins. But what is your role? Are you scoring more for the enemy or more for God with your choices? Or, possibly, even worse, are you just sitting on the bench, just existing?
It isn’t a sin to be tempted. Jesus Himself was tempted one-on-one, face-to-face, with Satan. What is a sin is the giving into temptation. It reminds me of that old saying, “You can’t help a bird from landing on your head, but you can keep it from building a nest there.”
Disobedience to God (not resisting temptation) is obedience to the enemy. Disobedience to the enemy (resisting temptation) is obedience to God.
“Temptation is not a sin; it is a call to battle.” – Erwin W. Lutzer
Are you prepared to fight?
[i] Strong’s Greek: 3986. πειρασμός (peirasmos) — Temptation, trial, testing
[ii] Every Test and Every Temptation | Tim Challies
[iii] W. Phillip Keller, A Layman Looks At the Lord’s Prayer
Beacons of Light 