Entrusted with the Gospel

“Lead us not into temptation.“

Sin. It is the destroyer of joy and the decimator of peace, and because sin is always a move toward autonomy – life alone – sin also keeps us from love. And now consider these three: joy, peace, and love – are they not the three things we want most in life? Are they not what we are seeking when we book grand vacations and go into debt to drive fast cars?

Love, joy and peace: not only the first three fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22), but also what we truly desire, and yet, sin keeps us from them. And now we turn to a prayer…which will keep us from sin. That’s what this prayer is about, and that’s how important this prayer is.

Yet, because we don’t quite know what it means, this is the one supplication of the Lord’s prayer that we rush through, perhaps mumbling it up to heaven. We hope the Lord will figure out what we’re saying even if we ourselves don’t know. 

The wording of the prayer does sound like God is going to lead us into sin unless we remember to ask him not to. But of course, this is an absolutely wrong interpretation, because we always interpret Scripture with other Scripture, and James 1:13 says “…he himself tempts no one.” As Thomas Watson said, “What king will tempt his subjects to break laws which he himself has established?”

So, what is Jesus getting at? It’s simple: in this moment, Jesus means for us to pray for power so that we don’t give in to temptation…power to NOT sin.

Are you eating too much lately? Welcome to the club. Begin to pray about this daily. Ask the Lord for power to put down the fork. Ask him for strength to stay on whatever eating plan you’ve come up with.

Are you wasting too much time surfing the net? Put it on your list, and ask the Lord to bring change to this area of your life.

What particular sin is keeping you from love and joy and peace? Consider and think through the sins you struggle with. Then begin to pray regularly for power to overcome it. 

Jesus put this prayer on his outline…and much is riding on it.

“Deliver us from evil, and the evil one.“

Have you heard the story of Salman Rushdie? He wrote a book in 1988 that angered Muslims, leading to a death order (fatwa) put out on his life by Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran. A failed assassination attempt followed in 1989: and then, in 2022, Rushdie was stabbed while speaking at an event in New York City. He lost an eye and suffers to this day from PTSD.

No wonder.

What would that be like, living most of your life with the knowledge that someone was trying to kill you?  

As Christians, we live every day with a spiritual fatwa. And yet, I think we are ho-hum about it. Nevertheless, so said Peter: “Be sober-minded. Be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1Pe 5:8 ESV). This is a familiar verse to long-time Christians, leading to its ho-hum status. I’ll bet the fatwa has never been ho-hum to Mr. Rushdie.

It shouldn’t be to us either.

Peter combines his warning with exhortation – be sober-minded, be watchful. The Greek word for “watchful” is the same verb that Jesus used when he asked Peter, James and John to pray with him in the Garden of Gethsemane, and instead of praying, the three inner-circle disciples all fell asleep. That night turned out to be dreadful for all of them…especially Peter, and hours later he would deny his Lord. I wonder, how many times did Peter later wish that he had stayed awake and prayed?

So here, years later, Peter is urging his followers to watch…to pray for protection from the evil one. This part of the Lord’s prayer is Jesus telling us how. And it’s not complicated: simply ask your heavenly Father for deliverance from evil…every day. 

Along these lines, the Puritan Thomas Brooks has written the book, Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices, about different satanic strategies. And Paul did say “we are not ignorant of his designs” (2 Corinthians 2:11 ESV). Yet I’m thankful that at this point, Jesus doesn’t expect us to know how the enemy of our souls is seeking to devour us, he merely insists that we pray.

And how important that we do just that – the fatwa has been placed on our heads.

I’ll conclude the series next week with some final thoughts on what this great prayer has meant to me.