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Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. 

Matthew 6:13

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This prayer was part of the Lord’s prayer that Jesus taught his disciples how to pray to the father. He ends the prayer which leads us, not into temptation. What an interesting request Jesus encourages us to make when praying. Why would we need to ask God the Father not to lead us into temptation? Does he tempt us? James 1:13 says, when tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me”, for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone. That is a bit of a dilemma!

There is a movie called the Lord of the Rings and in this film, there is a scene where the main actor, Frodo, finds a powerful ring with a friend called Gandalf. When Frodo realizes the power that the ring has and the danger he is in for possessing the ring, he pleads with Gandalf to please take the ring. Gandalf tells him, no, but Frodo insists for a third time “take it, you must take!” Gandalf with a stern voice said, “don’t tempt me Frodo!” Then he explains to Frodo, “you must understand that if I take the ring I will have a desire to do good, but through me, it will conquer my will, and instead I will do wrong and terrible things.” What an interesting statement Gandalf made in this movie. He wants to do good, but the power the ring has will lead him to evil actions.

In many ways, temptation is all around us and we desire it because of our flesh. We may fall into the temptation of lying so we do not get in trouble. We may fall into a temptation to cheat so mom and dad can be proud of my test grade. We may fall into the temptation to steal because we desire something we do not have. We may even betray a friend. All these things can drag us away from God and not glorify him. In the same way, Gandalf understood that the temptation of possessing the ring will drag him away from good and conquer his will, we too must understand that temptation will lead us astray. That is why Jesus encouraged us to pray to the father and ask him not to lead us into temptation, in other words deliver us, keep us away, help us to see the temptation and through his Spirit strengthen us to run away from it. If you are strong one day and say no to temptation, she will come another day and knock on your door. That is why we must ask for help from the one who can understand our temptation because he was tempted over and over again by the devil, yet he did not sin or fall into the trap. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weakness, but one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet he did not sin. Hebrews 4:15. Only through a relationship with Jesus, for example, praying, studying the bible, searching for him will enable us to remain strong and equipped to fight off temptations.

To end let us remember, God does not lead us into temptation, but instead we are dragged away by the desire we have in possessing it. God does help us and will not allow us to be tempted more than we can bear.

1 Corinthians 10:13

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

Reflection

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Write down something you were tempted to do and found the strength to overcome it.

Write something you were tempted to do and fell into it, but now you understand it was a bad decision.

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