Message #18 (of 20) from the PrayerPower radio series
"Jesus' Teaching on Prayer"

by Kaye Johns

I’m sure you recognize that as part of the Lord’s prayer, the model prayer Jesus taught His disciples in Matthew 6 [v. 13]. It makes a beautiful prayer, but we know Jesus intended it to be a pattern to teach us how to pray. But have you really thought about what it means?

Is it necessary to ask God not to lead us into temptation? Would He do that? We can understand this more clearly when we consider the meaning of the Greek word for "temptation." It also means "trial" or "test." The word in Greek is neutral, meaning a trial or test that can have beneficial results. God’s Spirit led Jesus into the desert to be tempted by Satan with beneficial results-- Jesus defeated Satan not once, but three times [Matthew 3:16-17; 4:1].

We must remember that God’s Spirit led Jesus into the desert, but it was Satan who did the tempting. God will never tempt us to do wrong. And we can be assured that God will never allow us to be tempted beyond what we can endure [1 Corinthians 10:13].

Nevertheless, Jesus taught us that it is important to ask God not to lead us into tests, trials or temptations, not to be put to the test. When we pray that prayer, we are acknowledging our weakness, our dependence. If Jesus taught it, we had best take it seriously.

Pray with me now -- Father, we ask as Jesus taught us--please, don’t put us to the test. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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