The Lord’s Prayer
‘Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” And he said to them, “When you pray, say:
“Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread,
and forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation.”’
~Luke 11:1-4 (ESV~emphasis mine)
Several years ago I had a problem with the particular part of the Lord’s prayer…“And lead us not into temptation”. Although I have been praying the prayer since childhood, I couldn’t wrap my mind around that God would lead us into temptation. He loves us, He wants to spend eternity with us…So, I did a little research on this part of the passage and I found this on StudyLight:
The word here translated “temptation” (Peirasmon) means originally “trial” or “test” as in James 1:2. Braid Scots has it: “And lat us no be siftit.” But God does test or sift us (emphasis mine), though he does not tempt us to evil. No one understood temptation so well as Jesus for the devil tempted him by every avenue of approach to all kinds of sin, but without success. In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus will say to Peter, James, and John: “Pray that ye enter not into temptation” (Luke 22:40). That is the idea here. Here we have a “Permissive imperative” as grammarians term it. The idea is then: “Do not allow us to be led into temptation.” There is a way out (1 Corinthians 10:13), but it is a terrible risk (taken from Robertson’s Word Pictures of the New Testament)
Yes, the life of a Christian is not without any trials and temptation, but Jesus has set the example how to withstand those temptations: Holding on to the Word of God and trust Him that He will bring us home…
Lord of Heaven and Earth. Sometimes You need to sift us, just like You had to sift Peter. Lord, even though those times can be very draining and discouraging, I know that You make us stronger through them. Lord, the only thing I ask is that You keep me close to You and help me not to loose faith — no matter how bad it gets. I cling to the promise that You will never leave or forsake me. In the precious name of Jesus ~ Amen.
I’ve never thought of it that way. Thanks for bringing this to my attention and for the encouragement, Iris!