At a recent Tuesday evening Bible Study at Church, I was asked what the saying from Matthew 6:13, “lead us not into temptation” means. As you are aware we pray this each time we pray the Lord’s Prayer at home or in Church. Are we asking that God does not lead us into temptation? Not at all, it goes much deeper than that.
We know from the Letter of James that God does not tempt anyone for to do so would go against the very nature of God.
No one, when tempted, should say, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself tempts no one. But one is tempted by one’s own desire, being lured and enticed by it; then, when that desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and that sin, when it is fully grown, gives birth to death. James 1:13-15
Along with praying for forgiveness and our daily bread what we are essentially praying for here is that we are led away from evil. As James put it, we are tempted by our own wants and our own desires and when we pray the prayer that Jesus himself taught us we are praying that we are given the strength to walk in the ways of God and not in our own will. We are asking that God walks with us and keeps us out of trouble.
However, this does not mean that we will not face trials in our lives. I do not like the saying that God will not give us more than we can handle as I think it devalues in a sense, what we are going through. God never promised that we would not go through difficult times in our lives but he did promise that we would not go through them alone.
No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it. 1 Corinthians 10:13
