The Lord’s Prayer: The Sixth Petition

Lead us not into temptation.

What does this mean?

God tempts no one. We pray in this petition that God would guard and keep us so that the devil, the world, and our sinful nature may not deceive us or mislead us into false belief, despair, and other great shame and vice. Although we are attacked by these things, we pray that we may finally overcome them and win the victory.

We are at war. It isn’t a physical war, rather it is a spiritual war. The opponents are an unholy trinity made up of the devil, the world and our sinful nature. The Bible describes the battlefield well. The devil is identified as a roaring “seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). The world, Jesus tells us “If the world hates you, know that it hated you before it hated you” (John 15:18). Finally, we are warned in Roman 7:18, “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate”.

What shall we do as we face this evil triumvirate? Paul answers the question for us when he tells us to “put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11). Just what is this armor? “Truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, the Word of God, and prayer” (Ephesians 6:14-18).

Each of these pieces of armor is in easy reach for those who live by faith in the Son of Man. What we are to hold onto is the promise of Jesus that he has already overcome the devil, the world and our sinful nature. That occurred on the holy cross of Calvary when Jesus shed his blood and died for you. The resurrection of Jesus on the third day is the final evidence that the unholy trinity has been destroyed. The only problem is that the triumvirate refuses to acknowledge defeat. Thus, we have the battle against that which is not made up by flesh and blood, “but against the rulers, the authorities, the cosmic powers, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). So, we stand firm in the gospel of peace which is found in the Lord Jesus Christ.