Father, Lead Me

Our Father in heaven, Hallowed is Your name. Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us day-by-day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins as we forgive all who are indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

Our Father in heaven, Hallowed is Your name. Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us day-by-day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins as we forgive all who are indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

(Prayer)

Introduction

WE have walked these last few weeks through the elements of this prayer asking the “WHY” question all along the way. And, by the help of the Holy Spirit, we have understood the reasons, the “BECAUSE.”

And now, at least using Luke’s version, we arrive at the culminating request that reflects the battles of our lives.

But there is a problem in simply reading and praying this phrase at a surface level.

I classify this as a DIFFICULT SAYING OF JESUS.

Why? You ask… Thanks for asking:)

Because, on the surface, it seems to be a contradictory to the whole of scripture.

a. Any interpretation of a portion of scripture has to be balanced with the whole of scripture.

b. We must take great care not to build a doctrine (truth) out of one text without examining the text with the entire Word of God.

So let’s flesh this out.

2. Where does temptation come from?

We know the enemy is a tempter....from the beginning.

We know that the Lord does not tempt, but that we are tempted by our own lusts.

Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.

If God does not tempt, why would Jesus tell us to pray that the Father not lead us into temptation?

1). That seems like a useless prayer unless the Father actually would lead us into temptation.

2) But HE DOESN’T! He won’t tempt. He tempts no one.

TEMPTATION

Greek: peirasmos = temptation

apeirastos = cannot be tempted

peirazo = the verb “to tempt” (tempts)

It get’s crazier!

3). My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials (peirasmos), knowing that the testing (dokimion = proving) of your faith produces patience....

So, we are to count it a joy to be tempted?

The Lord’s prayer doesn’t sound that way.

It sounds like temptation is something that we should desire to be lead away from.

Another problem is how we look at the word and try to interpret it differently according to the location. But that doesn’t work.

for example.

If we interpret it as temptation we get a contradiction.

“Lead us not into temptation”

“Count it all joy when you are tempted”

If we interpret peirasmos as trial we also get a contradiction.

“Lead us not into trials.”

“Count it all joy when you are tried, yet God tries no man.”

Oh my goodness, this seems like a problem!

But there is another event that lends some understanding to what Jesus is encouraging his disciples to pray, and event that he would not wish on any man.

The Temptation of Jesus

and

NOTICE HOW MARK DESCRIBES WHAT HAPPENED.

“Immediately, (after the baptism) the Spirit DROVE Him into the wilderness. And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.”

So there are other angles to look at.

Angle #1 is the temptation itself.

The SPIRIT DROVE HIM to a place where, among other things, HE WAS TEMPTED.

It is important to note the details.

- Jesus was cross-examined .... if you are the Son of Man

- Jesus came face to face with the accuser

- The accuser attempted to entice Jesus to take the easy way out.

Jesus gave testimony.....the Word of God .... His testimony overcame the cross-examination

Jesus did this on our behalf.

We have not a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet was without sin.

Hebrews 4:15

Hebrews 4:15

Hebrews 4:15 NKJV

For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Jesus had to be TRIED in order to be proven worthy to be the RANSOM for our sins.

- He was tempted as a man. He did not fail, because there was no evil within him. But legally, he had to be tempted.

(Some would argue that point, and it has been debated for two thousand years. But I believe the virgin birth bypassed the fallen, sin-tainted seed of Adam. Jesus was conceived of the HOLY SPIRIT. HOWEVER, for legal representation of Humanity, the Divine-Human had to be legally proven.)

- We on the other hand, even as born-again imagers of God, can still succumb to temptation. () That’s why we have a present pile removal system (last week’s message) from .

----So, Jesus was lead down a path that brought him to a moment of temptation.

----WE PRAY.... Lord, lead us away from the areas of our weakness, the areas where we might be overcome by the temptations that would occur.

IT IS A PATHWAY PRAYER!

Angle #2 The Tempter

But deliver us from the EVIL ONE

This one is clearer.

A. There is an EVIL ONE

tau (article “the” indicating an individual)

ponerou (one who is evil)

— Not just evil in the sense that evil is present

---But the ONE who is EVIL personified.

Sah-tan....... The accuser.

In Jewish Lore he was called … The Nakhash....

The PROSECUTER

The Devil ....

The Evil One

The Dragon of Old

The Liar

The Prowler

The Devourer

The Thief, murderer, destroyer

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.

HE WANTS TO DESTROY YOU!

BUT HALLELUJAH! There is a DELIVERER

I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

There is a DELIVERER

BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL....

TAKEAWAYS for LIFE

WHAT ARE OUR TAKEAWAYS AND HOW DO WE APPLY THEM?

1. We are followers of Jesus....being led down a path.

----It is an UPWARD PATH

a. A Path that leads deeper into our FATHER in Heaven

b. Deeper into the Kingdom and into His will

c. Deeper into provision

d. Deeper into MERCY and the expression of mercy.

(forgive for we forgive)

2. We are BOMBARDED with temptation from all sides.

-So, we maintain a lifestyle of repentance to stay true to the path.

-Repentance is a constant turning.

-And we are asking for help in maintaining that direction.

3. We HAVE DELIVERANCE

-Deliverance means RESCUE

-We were rescued from the broad path that leads to death.

-Col. 1:13

-We pray for continual rescue from getting put in a place where we might be trapped by the EVIL One.

WE WERE RESCUED (When we were born-again)

WE ARE BEING RESCUED

(When we pray “But deliver us from the Evil One.)

WE WILL BE RESCUED (When the Kingdom Comes in Fulness)