11 Not into Temptation
Not into Temptation
After prayer for provender and pardon comes a cry for protection, our third basic need. The sentence has two halves; “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (either sin, or trouble, or both, or “the evil one” who manipulates trouble to induce sin). Both halves, however, express a single thought: “life is a spiritual minefield; amid such dangers we dare not trust ourselves; Father, keep us safe.” Here the Lord’s Prayer links up with the view of life that runs through the Psalms. The realism, self-distrust, and humble dependence on God that breathes through this petition is something we all need to learn.
Testing
The thought that God may lead Christians into temptation, as the first clause assumes, has puzzled and shocked many people. Things grow clearer, however, once we see what temptation means here. “Test” or “trial”—that is, a situation which reveals how far you are able to go right and avoid going wrong—is the idea behind the word. The driving test, which (believe it or not) is designed to enable you to show that you can do everything right, is a “temptation” in this sense. Now, any educational or training program must of necessity include periodic tests for gauging progress, and the experience of taking and passing such tests can be very encouraging to the trainee. In God’s program for the spiritual education and growth of Christians, the same applies. God does and must test us regularly, to prove what is in us and show how far we have got. His purpose in this is wholly constructive, to strengthen us and help us forward. Thus he “tested” Abraham (so RSV; AV has “tempt,” RV “prove”) by telling him to sacrifice Isaac, and after the test promised him great blessing “because you have obeyed my voice” (Genesis 22:1, 18).
No Picnic
Why, then, if temptation is beneficial, should we ask to be spared it? For three reasons. First, whenever God tests us for our good, Satan, “the tempter,” tries to exploit the situation for our ruin. “Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Jesus knew from his wilderness experience how mean and cunning Satan is, and wished no one to underestimate him or to court a meeting with him. (Our modern occultists would do well to take this to heart.)
Second, the pressures in times of trial can be so appalling that no sane Christian can do other than shrink from them, just as they shrink from the thought of having cancer. For both reasons Jesus was as right to start his prayer in Gethsemane with “Father, remove this cup” as he was to end it with “yet not my will but yours be done” (cf. Matthew 26:39). Temptation is no picnic!
Third, knowledge of our own proven weakness, thickheadedness, and all-round vulnerability in spiritual matters, and of the skill with which Satan exploits our strong and weak points alike, mixing frontal assaults on our Christian integrity with tactics of infiltration and ambush, so that while avoiding one hazard we constantly fall victim to another, compels us to cry, in humility and self-distrust, “Lord, if it be possible, please, no temptation! I don’t want to risk damaging myself and dishonoring you by falling!” Temptation may be our lot, but only a fool will make it his preference; others will heed Paul’s warning to the spiritually reckless, “let any one who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12).
Watch and Pray
When Jesus found his disciples asleep in Gethsemane, he said, “Watch and pray that you may not enter into [that is, start yielding to] temptation; the spirit indeed is willing [to do God’s will], but the flesh [human nature] is weak” (Matthew 26:41). What prompted his comment was the struggle he had just had with himself, in which his own flesh had violently recoiled from the prospect of Calvary, plus now the sleep of those who, though tired, had been asked to watch with him—stay awake, that is, and support him by their presence and prayers. We must appreciate that the test of sincerity and realism in saying “lead us not into temptation” is readiness to “watch and pray,” lest we fall victim to it unawares.
“Watch” suggests a soldier on guard, alert for the first signs of enemy attack. We watch against temptation by noting what situation, company, and influences expose us to it, and avoiding them wherever we can. As Luther said, you can’t stop the birds flying over your head, but you can stop them nesting in your hair. Find out what for you is fire, and don’t play with it!
“Pray” points to the kind of prayer Jesus had just made—prayer for strength to do what one knows is right in face of inward reluctance plus any number of siren-songs seeking to charm one off course and spiritually onto the rocks.
Nobody ever expressed the right state of mind in this matter better than Charles Wesley, in the hymn that starts, “Jesus, my strength, my hope, On thee I cast my care.”
I want a godly fear,
A quick-discerning eye
That looks to thee when sin is near
And sees the tempter fly;
A spirit still prepared
And armed with jealous care,
For ever standing on its guard
And watching unto prayer.
The conclusion of the matter is this. For good and necessary reasons connected with our Christian growth (cf. James 1:2-12), we shall not be spared all temptation (cf. 1 Corinthians 10:13); but if we ask to be spared and watch and pray against Satan’s attempts to exploit situations for our downfall, we shall be tempted less than we might have been (cf. Revelation 3:10), and will find ourselves able to cope with temptation when it comes (1 Corinthians 10:13). So do not be unrealistic in not budgeting for temptation, nor foolhardy enough to court it; but when it comes, do not doubt God’s power to deliver from the evil it brings, and to “keep you from falling” (Jude 24) as you pick your way through it. When you are not conscious of temptation, pray “lead us not into temptation”; and when you are conscious of it, pray “deliver us from evil”; and you will live.
Further Bible Study
Eve’s temptation:
Genesis 3:1-7
Abraham’s temptation:
Genesis 22:1-19
Jesus’ temptation:
Luke 4:1-15
Questions for Thought and Discussion
What is “temptation,” as the word is used here?
What is God’s purpose in testing us? How do you respond to such testing?
Why should we ask to be spared from temptation?