The Lord's Prayer: "Lead Me Not Into Temptation" Series

When we pray, “Lead me not into temptation”, where asking the Lord to help us not to give in to the garbage that is peddled as edible.

Praying, “lead me not into temptation”, is like going on a long road trip and depending on the person in the passenger’s seat to read the map and tell you which direction to head and turns to make. So the important thing to remember is that we need God’s help in the paths we choose because all of us are capable of making very wrong decisions. The Lord wants us to establish a watchful attitude over our spiritual lives. Remember when the disciples fell asleep in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus said to them in Mt. 26:41 "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."

We want to make you strong in spirit. Now the word “temptation here and in the “Lord’s Prayer” is the same word for “trial”. So when we pray this, we’re asking the Lord to deliver us from both a crisis and a process. Let’s say a person likes to go out to eat. They eat out for breakfast, lunch and dinner, 6 days a week. The problem is that they can’t afford it on their budget. So they end up charging their meals which puts them behind on their car payment and their rent and the downward spiral continues until their up to their eyeballs in debt. The water and electricity is going to be shut off and creditors are going to bang on the door.

Now the Holy Spirit grabs their attention and so they pray on Monday, “Lead me not into temptation”. It’s a great day, they eat breakfast a home, they brown bag it for lunch, they eat at home that evening, and they avoid the crisis of overspending on Monday and the savings that day are significant. But what about Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and the weekend? They may have had an answer to prayer for their crisis, but what about the process of temptation. In order to get out of sin’s snare, not just 1 day, but everyday, they will need to pray “Lead me not into temptation not only on Monday, but Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and probably everyday until they break the cycle that sin has on them. Pray in the crisis, but pray in, during and through the process.

When we pray “Lead me not into temptation”, we are asking the Lord to lead us to a place, where we can overcome sin, where sin has no more dominion over us and where the temptation becomes a thing of the past.

When we pray, “Lead me not into temptation” we’re exercising self-distrust. We’re saying, “Lord, I’m just one day, one hour, one minute away from crossing over that line and giving into that temptation”. It’s saying with the successful AA member who testifies that he’s an alcoholic that hasn’t had a drop in 15 years, but is only one step from falling off the wagon.

When we pray “Lead me not into temptation”, we’re asking the Lord to give us the strength, the courage, the resolve and the desire to say no to the things that bind and bring us into bondage and yes to the things that bring honor and glory to Him, to others and to ourselves.