Lead Us Not Into Temptation, But Deliver Us From Evil (Matt. 6:12)

Context

One matter that needs clarified is whether or not there is a particular reference to the devil here. The word translated as ‘evil’ can mean ‘evil one’. The word could be neuter or masculine because it is spelt the same in each. Since the devil tempts to evil, we can see how it can refer to him.

The context of this petition is its link with the preceding one which was concerned with forgiveness of sins. A failure to forgive will result in temptation. It is also connected by the conjunctions at the start of each verse to the petition about daily bread. The implication is that physical strength can bring about circumstances in which we will be tempted. 

 

Connections

A person who has experienced forgiveness fears the power of sin. When he asks for forgiveness, he knows something of the awfulness of sin; and he hates it to such an extent that he never wants to experience its awfulness again. He prays for pardon aware of the power of sin to tempt him. If I treat carelessly a particular sin, I will also treat carelessly temptations to commit it.

 

This petition indicates that it is possible for us to enter into temptation without being aware that we have. Temptation is not always obvious, may be multi-faceted, and may come at a different rate. Because that is the case, we should pray about it in case we are already in such a situation. A person walking across ice may imagine he is safe and not realise that his next step may over a hole into which he will fall.  

 

One author pointed out that the devil often uses three strategies. Sometimes, he is patient, willing to persist with a temptation for a long time; sometimes, he comes in sudden force that is so strong we are knocked of balance; and during both, he keeps himself hidden. We can see why we would want to be protected from such an opponent. 

 

Temptation can come anywhere. It can happen in sacred places – Adam and Eve were tempted in Eden before they sinned. Cain was tempted to kill his brother over worship. Peter was tempted when he was in the company of Jesus. In assessing some of the seven churches, Jesus mentions ways that the devil had tempted some of them.

 

Temptation can occur when we are living faithful lives. Joseph was tempted when he was loyal to God’s requirements. We should also remember that temptation can offer what seems right, but which is actually dangerous. When Lot saw the valley near Sodom, he saw what looked like the garden of Eden. 

 

This petition is an acknowledgement that the Father is the God of providence. Divine providence includes everything that occurs, including the actions of the enemies of his kingdom. The enemies are everywhere, and each can be a tool of the devil in attacking believers. After all, the petition is not just about one’s personal deliverances. It focuses on what is happening to other believers as well.

 

This petition is also an expression of a very deep longing within believers, the longing to be in a perfect world.  Ultimately, that is what the desire to be freed from all evil points to. Do I desire merely to be delivered from the penalty of sin or do I also want intensely to be freed from the presence of sin? In a sense, this petition is a negative affirmation of the beauty of holiness.

 

The petition is based on the purpose of God to have a perfect world. It is more than a response we make each time we sin. Indeed we could pray this petition when we waken first thing in the morning as how we would like the day to go.

 

Jesus understands

The Saviour was impeccably holy. Yet he also knew the horror of temptation.  He, after his baptism, was led by the Spirit into the desert in order to be tempted by the devil. Obviously, that was not a pleasant experience for Jesus; yet he knew that it had to be done as part of his victory over the powers of darkness. As Adolph Saphir points out, ‘Jesus knew the nature of temptation. He was tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Jesus the Son of Man counsels us to dread temptation. His perfect purity, His strength of faith, give additional force to His warning. How much more ought we poor sinful creatures to dread the assaults of the wicked one.’ Jesus, because he never gave in to temptation, felt its powerful more. A person who resists for ten minutes knows more about the power than a person who resists for five minutes. How much did the One who consistently resisted it know of its power?

 

The involvement of God in our temptations

It is clear that this petition is concerned with spiritual deliverance. The Saviour reminds his disciples that their prayers must take account of the permanent reality of spiritual danger. Yet the petition presents our spiritual danger as being under the sovereign control of God. It is an admittance that God can bring us into situations where we can be tempted strongly by the devil. The obvious example of this from the Bible is the Book of Job. Job, in God’s providence, was attacked by the devil out of malice, but the attack was allowed by God.

 

We may be surprised at the wording of this petition because we know that James says in his letter: ‘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’ (Jas. 1:13).  So what does this petition mean? 

 

To begin with, I think it means that wherever we are in life we will be in a place where temptation and Satanic attack is possible. This petition is a recognition that we are passing through enemy territory. 

 

Further, the petition expresses awareness that God may allow us to undergo particular temptations in which the devil will have a special grip on us. There are biblical examples of this situation. Perhaps the clearest example is Peter on the evening when Jesus was arrested. Peter was in a very unhealthy spiritual state. He had ignored the teaching of his Master, and this attitude was an expression of sinful pride and self-confidence. The consequence was that God allowed him to go through a sieve because of his sin.

 

It is also important for us to note that the words test and tempt are the translation of the same word. The context is what makes the difference. Sometimes, a situation can be both a test and a temptation. The devil can tempt us to sin, and God can test our determination to serve him. Such a scenario can often happen when we are about to do something for the Lord, whether as an individual or as a church.

 

Why would God allow temptation?

God can allow temptation in order to make us sympathetic towards other Christians. I read once that there are three things we should remember when we see a brother or sister fall into sin. First, we do not know how hard they have fought against it; second, we do not know how strong the power of that temptation was; third, we don’t know what we would do in the same circumstances. God can give us a taste of what they went through by allowing us to be tempted.

 

God can also allow temptation in order to show us our weakness. We may imagine that we are making good progress and may even have dealt successfully with certain sins. It is the case that one believer finds it easier to deal with a particular sin than does another believer. For example, many believers never engage in gossip, therefore it is not a problem for them to deal with it. They may imagine that they are stronger than those who have a problem with gossiping. Another temptation will show them that they are weak in other areas.

 

God can allow temptation in order to keep us humble. I suppose something like this happened with Paul’s thorn in the flesh. He had made great spiritual strides, even having an experience of the third heaven. Yet he admits that God sent a messenger of Satan, a thorn in the flesh, to keep him from pride.

 

God allows strong temptations in order that we will long for heaven. They are his means of reminding us that we live in an awful world, and he uses them to draw us in heart towards the perfect world.  

 

What kind of temptations can we face?

Terry Johnson has neatly summed them up in three words: people, places and products. There are people we should not associate with, there are places that we should not go, and there are products that we should not use. Many temptations arise out of concrete things that we can easily avoid.

 

Other temptations appear from within us. They can come from our memories. We recall what somebody did to us or said about us in the past, perhaps even thirty years ago. The recollection stirs up all kinds of other responses. Yet the basic problem is that we have not prayed about it. We should ask God to enable us to forget all the wrong things or words people have done or said to us. Such praying will be of great benefit to us.

 

Another inner source of temptation is our imaginations. Our thought life can range to anywhere or to anyone in the world. All kinds of things can parade themselves before our minds. The remedy for uncontrolled imagination is prayer. We should ask God for sanctified imaginations because such can stimulate us to pray for other things.

 

What kind of Christian needs to pray this petition?

Obviously, a new Christian must ask God for protection. After all, his awareness of a sinful life is very informed because he engaged in it recently. The devil will be able to play on that person’s particular sins and tempt them with it.

 

On the other hand, an older Christian needs spiritual protection. They face the danger of presumption, of complacency, of assuming that they do not need to be alert. Perhaps they don’t take as much care in doing what they should be doing. When did David’s sin with Bathsheba begin? It did not begin when he saw her bathing on the roof. It began when he did not go with his army to the fight. In other words, because he did not do what he should have done, he ended up doing what he would not have done normally. David was a mature believer when he fell.

 

Those in Christian leadership must always pray this petition. They are the prime targets of the devil. If he can get them to fall, then he makes an indent into the public’s perception of the kingdom of Christ. David was a leader who fell. 

 

Christians facing difficulties in life need to pray this petition. Sometimes our circumstances will change for the worse. Perhaps a person loses his employment or he or she may discover that they have a particular illness. In such situations, it is clear that the devil can tempt them with hard thoughts about God.

 

Christians facing changes in life need to pray this petition. They must ask if this change will be good for them spiritually. A change of employment has often led to circumstances in which temptations come if the person went into a situation that he was not spiritually equipped to handle.

 

Why do we need to pray in times of temptation?

We need to pray because we have an opponent who is determined to get us to fall. He is strong, he is skilful, he is in charge of an organised structure, and he is resolute. While he is not omnipotent, Satan is powerful as we can see from the Book of Job. He is skilful, as we can observe even from the temptations he put before the mind of Jesus. Paul testified that he was not ignorant of the devil’s devices. In addition, Satan heads up an organised kingdom (the kingdom of darkness) with particular strategies marked out against us. And he will keep on trying to get us. If he does not succeed at one time, he will come back on another occasion.

 

We need to pray because we also have a traitor within us which is very willing to adopt the devil’s suggestions. Indwelling sin or the flesh is never totally slain in the heart of a believer. It is impossible, in this life, to remove the roots of sin from our hearts. Sometimes we think we have, but then we discover that all we have done is the equivalent of removing the heads of weeds in a garden. Our particular weak points will be prime targets for the devil’s temptations.

 

We also need to pray because we are in an environment which suits the devil’s temptations entirely. The world, which can be defined in various ways, is the most suitable location for temptations. We are not to limit the world to sinful pleasures – the concept involves far more than these. It includes the current intellectual ideas, it involves the current acceptable practices, it embraces the current future hopes for society and life. Everywhere in life is a possible place for sin. Therefore we need to pray for protection.

 

What can God do for us in times of temptation?

Paul tells us that God provides a way out in temptation: ‘No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it’ (1 Cor. 10:13). I suspect that the way of escape is to draw near to him for help. He never shuts the door of heaven to a tempted believer. God may lead us into temptation, but he will never leave us in temptation as long as we ask for his help.

 

God’s promises remain true in times of temptation. Just as we know that God is upholding the earth in the midst of a great storm, so we know that he is in control of our lives. What he says he will do for us have not been removed, even if things appear hard and dangerous. We can meditate on these promises or we can turn them into arguments to use as we pray.

 

God’s priorities do not change when we are in times of temptation. His priority is that we develop holiness, that we become Christlike. Jesus, although he was sinless, faced temptations; and his method of resisting them is the method that we must use. He resisted them by putting God’s requirements in his Word before whatever the devil could give. Our priority should be to imitate Jesus and remain devoted to God throughout the time of temptation.

 

God’s presence is often revealed in a wonderful way after a time of temptation. This was true for Job who did not fall, and it was true for David and Peter when they fell. Job experienced the endorsement of God, and it was of much more value than the opinions of men. David and Peter experienced the restoration of God from their falls. The knowledge that God will yet meet with us should encourage us to persevere in times of temptation.

 

A couple of points as we close. First, we should remember what the writer of Hebrews says about Jesus and temptation: ‘For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted’ (2:18). Jesus understands temptation’s power because he resisted it completely. But his understanding of it is connected to his role as the priest who helps his people. Surely, Jesus taught his disciples to offer this prayer because any answer to this petition will involve him.

 

Second, we should remind ourselves of the promise of James: ‘Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him’ (Jas. 1:12). God’s test of our faithfulness will often include allowing Satan to tempt us, but through prayer we will be enabled to resist his temptations. Eventually, we will receive the crown of life.