Series Seven: Lead Us Not

Matthew 6:13a "And lead us not into temptation."

When you pray "Lead us not into temptation," you are asking God to guide your steps today. You recognize that God is your Leader. You confess you need Holy Spirit to help you choose the right thing to do for today.

Many things come to us and we get to choose. When morning comes, I have two choices. Allow "to do" lists first into my mind or I put God's word first into my heart. One of the most dangerous temptation is "I'll do it later." The center of the heart is the most important part. Putting God first thing in the morning control my day better. Jeremiah quote: "The heart is deceitful above all things ... Who can understand it?" (17:9 NIV) This is a good reason to pray "don't let us yield to temptation." This is our heart's cry that we have felt the destruction of sins and we do not want to feel it again.

When you pray "Lead us not into temptation," you are setting up a watchful attitude over your spiritual life. You are making sure that temptation does not lead you away from God and His Word. Paul predicts that in the future there will be many falling away from God (2 Thess. 2:3). Falling away from God is cause by not having the root deep enough into the Word of God (Luke 8:13).

Jesus prayed to His Father, "I pray not that Thou should take them out of the world, but that Thou should keep them from evil" (John 17:15). When you pray, "Lead us not into temptation," you are praying the same prayer Jesus had prayed before the night Jesus died on the cross.

So now we realize that The Lord's Prayer can help us overcome temptation.

Dorothy

The Lord's Prayer:
Our Father which are in heaven. Holy be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts (sins), as we forgive our debtors (those who sin against us). And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.