“Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil”
Let’s be honest. This text leaves us a little bewildered. Can it really mean what it says? Surely God doesn’t lead us “into temptation”. James plainly says that God tempts no man nor can He himself be tempted (James 1:13). Must be a textual problem…right? But, the text is authentic. And, that leaves us staring into the face of a disturbing possibility: Can God – does God – lead us into moments of temptation?
The question is a complicated one to be sure. The spiritual life in general is characterized by a lot of mystery. It’s sort of like looking at a beautiful island through a porthole in a ship’s cabin. Our range of vision goes only so far. This text puts an idea about how life in the Spirit works into our “line of sight” that is a little unnerving to say the least. The answer, I think, begins with how we understand “God’s leading”. If God isn’t against us and if it’s true that He doesn’t use us as human toys for His amusement then we are left with a higher purpose in the text’s/prayer’s meaning.
Take Jesus’ own life for example. Luke 4:1-2 says Jesus was led of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Hebrews 5:8-10 reminds us that although he was a Son he learned obedience through the things which he suffered. Jesus described his own coming as “being sent”. The Father placed him in the world of sinful humanity for the purpose of redemption. “I have come to do the will of Him who sent me,” Jesus said. The night Jesus was betrayed, he predicted the disciples would be scattered. In particular, he told Peter that Satan had demanded permission to sift him like wheat (Luke 22:32-33). Their trials created a temptation experience that tested their faith.
“Lead us not” strikes at the heart of many things. It reminds us that we live in a spiritual atmosphere that engages us, whether we want to admit it or not, in battle. Consequently, we should meet each day in a genuine humility about our frailty as human beings. And, this should compel us to seek the Lord’s leadership through the uncharted waters of each day. Saying such in prayer is our personal declaration that we realize the kind of atmosphere we live in. It is a declaration of our need for guidance and strength. It is a declaration of our desire to live out intentionally the experience of sanctification. To be vigilant about “lead us not into temptation” means that we are serious about “thy kingdom come.” The two requests temper one another. They imply the existence of the other.
I like these words from Charles Spurgeon. Listen carefully to the perspective of “lead us not into temptation” that he provides. May it bless your life as you travel with God this day.
You feel that you are about to follow the course of Divine Providence, that whatever happens to you will be according to your Father’s will, and you put up this prayer, “Lord, You are to lead me this day. I would follow close to Your footsteps as a sheep follows its shepherd. But since I know not what is to happen to me, suffer me to ask one thing of You. Do not, I pray You, lead me away from sorrow or trouble—do as You will about that, O my Lord—but do not, I beseech You, lead me in Your Providence where I shall be tempted. For I am so feeble that, perhaps, the temptation may be too strong for me. Therefore, this day make a straight path for my feet, and suffer me not to be assailed by the Tempter. “Or if it must be, if it is better for me to be tempted, and if You do intend this day that I should fight with old Apollyon himself, then deliver me from evil. Oh, save me from the mischief of the temptation. Let me have the temptation if so it must be, but oh, let it do me no hurt. Let me not stain my garments. Let me not slip nor slide, but may I stand fast at the end of the day. May this temptation, though it be not joyous but grievous, have so worked out in me the comfortable fruits of righteousness, that it may be a part of that grand method by which You shall ultimately deliver me from all evil and make me perfectly like Yourself in Glory everlasting.”
O Father, we continue the prayer we began with these simple thoughts. Give us the strength to follow you wherever you lead us. In moments of testing when we can feel the gravitational pull of temptation, may evil not get its hooks into us. May your word be strong in us. May your Spirit rise up within us against the powers of the flesh and overthrow them. And, may we emerge on the other side of the moment of testing in strength and peace demonstrating that your kingdom has once again come. Because of Jesus…Amen
Randy Daugherty
Thanks Randy for this article and for sharing Charles Spurgeons words as well as your own. It is encouraging not to fall into temptation when you think,"Let me not stain my garments."
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