The Lord's prayer teaches us about God's greatness and man's depravity. (Matthew 6:9-13: Luke 11:2-4). In some circles of Christianity it may be known as 'The Our Father prayer'.
"Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil" is the ending part of the Lord's prayer as Jesus taught. He taught his disciples this prayer when they asked Him to teach them how to pray. The last part "For yours is the kingdom, power and glory forever" is not part of the prayer in the original manuscripts. This was apparently added by the church fathers in the early days of Christian faith.
When we pray not to lead us into temptaion, it can be interpreted as God leads people into temptation. This is not scriptural. The Bible says, God cannot tempt anyone. When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. (James 1:13-15). “In the sixth request (And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one) we pray that God would either keep us from being tempted to sin or support and deliver us when we are tempted.” – (Shorter Catechism Q. 106)
When we pray “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one,” we pray asking God to keep us aware of the spiritual battle we are in, mindful of our enemies and their tactics, and relying on God. In this petition, Jesus reminds me that we are in the battle front and in spiritual danger, caught in the midst of a spiritual battle between good and evil. We need to be mindful of the enemies of my mind, body, and soul, who seek to corrupt and destroy. This petition reminds me to come under God’s authority and protection, following Him to lead into spiritual warfare.
It is good to understand the difference between tests and temptations. Tests have a good purpose of proving or improving the quality of something or someone. Schools test the quality of knowledge of the students. Metals like gold are tested for purity by subjecting through fire. Tests of faith are situations that examine and confirm the faith. "By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac." Hebrews 11:17-18. "Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves." (2 Corinthians 13:5). Temptations on the other hand have the malicious objective to prove weaknesses or trapping into wrong action through hardship or pain. "God cannot be tempted with evil, neither does He tempt any man." (James 1:13). God does not have malicious objective in His nature and hence He will not and cannot tempt anyone. But within the confines of every temptation there will be a test. Trials are the struggles people go through while facing tests and/or temptations. Such experiences strengthen their patience, mature their Christian character and lead them into an enhanced assurance of God’s love for them. "The trial of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire." (1 Peter 1:6-8). Through these experiences or trials in life, we can understand our own nature and God’s Power and acknowledge that God is God and we are not.
Adam and Eve were tempted by the devil in the Garden of Eden. Jesus was tempted by the devil in the desert. In the scripture, these are the only two places where we see the devil talking directly to man. Both are places of temptations. In both cases satan appealed to bodily needs and earthly desires. It was not because Eve or Adam was hungry that they chose to eat of the tree. They had access to all the other trees and fruits they could eat. Their appetite for the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was much more than hunger or thirst. God had told Adam and Eve that if they ate of the forbidden tree, they would die. But the devil told Eve, “You will not certainly die for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4). They listened to the devil over God and chose the pursuit of knowledge to become like God. Thus sin and death entered in creation. Jesus, the last Adam, refused to yield even though He was hungry and won victory over sin and death. "As in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. The first Adam became a living being while the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” (1 Corinthians 15:45)
Temptations are primarily targeted on the human desire to satisfy the physical senses. "For all that is in the world the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life are not from God." (1 John 2:16). In Genesis 3 we read: “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food (Lust of the flesh), and that it was pleasant to the eyes (Lust of the eyes), and a tree to be desired to make one wise (Pride of life), she took of the fruit thereof, ate and gave to her husband who also ate.” Jesus was tempted similarly by the devil by asking him to turn the stones into bread to satisfy his hunger (lust of the flesh). Then the devil showed him the all the kingdoms of the world (lust of the eye) and tempted him to worship him so that he can possess it, and finally the devil asks Jesus to jump from the top of the temple to prove himself as the son of God (pride of life). Jesus was asked to stop what he had been doing - his fasting, and turn stones into bread thus to break His fasting. Jesus, the last Adam won where the first Adam had failed. "For He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to help those who are tempted." (Hebrews 2:17-18).
The devil quoted the scriptures to tempt while Jesus used the scriptures to resist the temptations. We are given the scriptures to be nourished and strengthened during times of temptations. We need God’s help in resisting temptations and winning over temptations. We may go through the experience of wilderness like Jesus did. Wilderness is not a pleasant experience. Unpredictable and harsh, it is a place that offers nothing but the possibility of death. As the word itself says, it is wild. To be in the wilderness is to be alone totally relying on God for survival. The Bible calls Jesus the last Adam in 1 Cor 15, "as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive". "The first Adam became a living being; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” In the wilderness temptations of the Lord Jesus Christ we see satan taking the same approach that he did with Eve. The difference here is that Jesus was tired and hungry and was in the wilderness with nobody to help. Yet He won over the temptations so that the all who believe in Him will have the power to win victory over temptations.
In some versions, we read "deliver us from the evil one." suggesting a person. Evil one may be outside of us or inside of us. The evil forces within us rebel against the Spirit of God all the time. In a sense this prayer is asking God to deliver us from ourselves. The Greek text of this part of the Lord’s Prayer conveys this meaning: “Bring us not into trials, but rescue us from our evil heart of unbelief.” Paul talks about the forces within our body make us do what we do not want to do. "So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin." (Romans 7:21-25)
The prayer is also for deliverance from our self-centredness. Note that the prayer is a collective prayer, using plural for 'us'. When we pray, it is not about just me, but for the rest of us too. Then the temptation to trust in myself and not in God, to either sin or trust in my self-righteousness, and I need deliverance from the forces that bind us. Jesus reminds me in this prayer that my soul is in spiritual danger, caught in the midst of a spiritual battle between good and evil. I need to be mindful of the enemies of my mind, body, and soul.
Sadly, there are times when we wander from God and give over to temptation. Many a times we are not able to distinguish temptations because we are so used to it. Everybody else is doing or not doing something that is against Christian conviction, but we get used to it very easily. This is the danger that we are asking God to help. We cannot free ourselves from the bondage of sin. "So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed” John 8:36
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