Lead Us Not Into Temptation

This post is a continuation of the series, “Meditations on the Lord’s Prayer.” You can find the whole series here.

“God surely tempts no one to sin, but we pray in this petition that God would guard and keep us, so that the devil, the world, and our flesh may not deceive us or lead us into false belief, despair, and other great and shameful sins; and though we are tempted by them, we pray that we may overcome and win the victory.” (Luther’s Catechism, Northwestern Publishing House: Milwaukee, 2017, p. 279)

As I think of what it means to pray the Sixth Petition, my thoughts go to the first few verses of Psalm 23.

God is our Shepherd. He leads us beside quiet waters and guides us along the right paths for his name’s sake. Even as we go through the dark valleys of life, God is right there with us. More than that, he leads us home to heaven. These are all true things that our Good Shepherd lovingly does.

So what are we asking when we pray that God would not lead us into temptation?

We pray that God would help us live with our eyes open to the dangers we face as his flock and rely on him to overcome them.

We’re constantly tempted by the devil, the world, and our sinful nature to fall into sin every day.

Sometimes those temptations are blatant and unapologetic. Like an open pit, they can be easily avoided, but we fall into them if we’re not paying careful attention to where they are.

Other times temptations are subtler and quieter, whispering, “What’s the harm? How bad can it really be if you do this?” Those temptations are deadly snares covered with leaves and branches that we often don’t notice until it’s too late. We step in them and we’re caught.

But the temptations don’t cease once we’ve fallen. Oh no. They continue.

Temptations can pull the wool over our eyes until we convince ourselves that what we’re doing isn’t really a sin. We rationalize our actions until we believe the lie.

Or they blindside us once we’ve fallen for their trap with a twin- hammerblow of thoughts and feelings of shame and despair. I can’t believe I did that again. I promised God I wouldn’t. How can he ever forgive me? He won’t, will he? If I were actually sorry for what I did, I wouldn’t keep doing it!

The devil, the world, and our sinful flesh are relentless in their pursuit of trapping us in sin. And they’ll do everything they can to keep us there. As you know, dear Christian, we often fall for their traps.

With temptations all around us, we cry out to the One who walks beside us, “Lead us not into temptation!”

Wake up, dear Christian!

Keep your eyes open—the wolves are in the sheep pen; their traps are all around us. The only way we’re going to see their snares for the deadly lies that they are is by clinging to the truth: God’s Word.

We rely on God to guard and keep us so that we are not deceived or led astray. When we are tempted, we are not helplessbecause God has given us his Word, his strength, and his help to endure and overcome. In every temptation, our Good Shepherd is right there beside us. We are not alone.

But when we do fall into temptation—and we will because our flesh is weak and we don’t always listen to our God or follow him—God also provides us with assurances of his forgiveness, peace, and love that are ours because of our Savior Jesus.

One final thought on the Sixth Petition—Martin Luther had an excellent viewpoint on life that relates to this petition:

This is and will ever remain a life of trials. Therefore we do not say, “Spare us the trial,” but, “Do not lead us into it.” It is as if we were to say, “We are surrounded on all sides by trials and cannot avoid them; however, dear Father, help us so that we do not fall prey to them and yield to them and thus be overcome and vanquished.” (Martin Luther, Luther’s Works, edited by Jaroslav Pelikan and Helmut T. Lehmann, American Edition, Vol. 42 (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House; Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1955–1986, p. 71)

Dear Christian, stay alert. Watch and pray. Look to your Savior who always walks beside you.

Lead us not into temptation.

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