The Lord's Prayer Part 6-Temptation and Evil

Temptation and Evil Mt. 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. There is an ancient Jewish Evening prayer, which Jesus likely knew. One section says the following: Lead my foot not into the power of sin and bring me not into the power of iniquity and not into the power of temptation and not into the power of anything shameful. It would follow that Jesus was referencing this prayer when He taught His disciples to ask to be spared temptation. To be spared temptation and rescued from evil should be the desire of any spiritual person. We should resist sin, but we need help. It’s one thing to struggle against sin. But if we are not tempted then there is nothing to resist. Abstaining from sin would be a breeze. So, it’s a good prayer. And we all can be sure that Jesus’ prayers were always answered. But…Houston, we have a problem. This is a prayer that God doesn’t seem to answer. At least not all the time. We ARE tempted. And sometimes it seems that the more we sincerely ask for relief, the further away the relief moves. Or maybe its just me. Assuming that He Himself prayed for deliverance from temptation, even Jesus was denied an affirmative answer. Perhaps he prayed the aforementioned evening prayer, or perhaps the same ideas in a different form. He was “led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil” in Matthew 4:1, just 2 chapters back from The Lord’s Prayer. And later He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane for the cup to pass from Him. It did not. It only got harder. If Jesus was tempted and thus received a less than affirmative answer to this question, we can be sure that the spirit will lead us to places where we will be tempted as well. Regardless of our answer to the prayer we are instructed to pray it. I Cor. 10: 12So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! 13No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. He always gives us a way out. We don’t always take it. But this is a most appropriate time to pray for deliverance from evil. When we find ourselves on the verge of giving in is when evil always seems the most personal. Its attacks on us are tailor-made. In our weakest moments we are tempted with the things we most desire. Its hard to imagine that this is arbitrary or coincidental. The Greek word that is traditionally translated “evil” can equally be translated “evil one.” The Christian belief in a personal devil is often rejected by critics of the faith. But no one can deny the personal way in which evil works in the world, especially in the area of temptation. The Bible offers two primary ways in which to resist temptation in the frequent occasions when our prayer for deliverance is not answered affirmatively. They are both vitally important and can be effectively employed simultaneously. The first is by using God’s word. Matthew 4:1-11 is the story of Jesus’ own temptation in the desert. For each temptation the devil presented, the Savior quoted scripture. It follows that various temptations can be better resisted the more scripture we know. The second way is by a simple removal of the obstacle. I call it simple because it is not complex. Not because it is easy. Earlier in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus speaks of the severity of the sacrifice that the disciple should be willing to make in order to resist sin. Matthew 5:27-30 speaks of amputating limbs that cause one to sin. Certainly Jesus is no dummy, and realizes that the sin of stealing has to do with the mind and heart, not with the hand. The point is to become radical in dealing with sin. Do what it takes to eliminate the sin, even if it is painful or involves sacrifice. Some years ago a colleague in the next counseling office and I had some down time and were sharing a conversation. He mentioned a TV show and asked if I’d seen it. “Nope.” He continued to ask this or that question about TV shows that yielded only frustrating answers until I confessed that we had given away our TV some time earlier. The look of shock on his face is burned into my memory. “Well…what DO you do?” I listed the things that my wife and I had time to do that we hadn’t because of our diet of boob tube. We read books, spent time together, took long walks on the beach. My friend’s response was as if I had cut off my right hand. (By the way, we once again have a TV and we are addicted to ’24.’) Thousands of men struggle with temptation to access Internet pornography. As the Internet becomes more and more indispensible as a part of our lives, the options for dealing with this sin become fewer and more important. For many it is not as simple as cancelling home Internet service. But filters and accountability software can be an excellent option for those of us who feel the need to remain plugged in. (see www.covenanteyes.com or www.xxxchurch.com.) The point is to deal with this and other sin radically and with a vengeance. For others it may be that life is too busy and we need to learn to be ruthless with our schedule to free up time for God and family. So, pray to not be led into temptation. If you are tempted, pray for deliverance and look for the way out that He provides. Resist temptation with God’s word and remove the temptation even if it means being socially awkward or inconvenienced. Trust the God who loves you enough to send His Son to deliver you from sin will support you fully. Even if He leads you through deserts of temptation He will lead you out and His angels will minister to you as well. Winston Churchill’s words seem appropriate here: “If you’re going through hell, keep on going.”