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Daily Devotion: Matthew 6:9-13 (7)

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Matthew 6:9-13     "After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.  (10)  Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.  (11)  Give us this day our daily bread.  (12)  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.  (13)  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."

"And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil..."  I prayed this prayer, read this prayer, and repeated this prayer many times before I came to an understanding about this portion of the Model Prayer.  Quite honestly, it did not make sense to ask God not to lead us into temptation. Why would He do that in the first place? Let me share some Scripture with you that would come to my mind when praying this prayer. 

This verse speaks of Jesus: (1 John 3:5)   "And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin."  Here is the main verse that would come to my mind: (James 1:13)  "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man"

There are other verses that speak of the fact that there is no sin in God. So I ask again, why would Jesus instruct us to ask God not to lead us into temptation? The answer is this:  He is not instructing us to ask God not to do this; rather, He is reminding us that God DOES NOT lead us into temptation. (I hope that sentence makes sense.) I go back to 5th grade English class. Yes, those classes really do help, even when I thought it was a waste of time. What is the subject of a sentence with no stated subject? For instance, If I am talking to you and say, "Go to the store." What, or who, is the subject of that sentence? Is it not understood that the subject of that sentence would be "you"? In other words, it could be read, or heard, as saying, "(You) go to the store." That's a simple illustration, but does it help to better understand today's text? It certainly helped me. So we can read the text using the principle of the understood subject, "(You) lead us not into temptation, but (You) deliver us from evil..." This places the sentence in absolute accord with the rest of the Scriptures. God does not tempt us with evil. But it is the power of God, the Holy Spirit, that delivers us from evil. God enables us to identify that which is contrary to His Word and thereby avoid falling into the snares of the devil. God provides the whole armour of God whereby we are able to "... withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." (Ephesians 6:13)  I'm so thankful that our God does not lead us into temptation, but He certainly does deliver us from evil. Thank you, dear Lord!

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