Teach Us to Pray 

“Lead us not into Temptation”

Matthew 6: ⁵ “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. ⁶ But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. ⁷ “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. ⁸ Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. ⁹ Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.  ¹⁰ Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. ¹¹ Give us this day our daily bread, ¹² and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. ¹³ And lead us not into temptation,but deliver us from evil.

The Lord’s Prayer encourages us to seek to God’s will, to seek forgiveness, to seek God’s help in avoiding temptation and to ask for protection against the enemy.

– We walk in alignment with Heaven. 

¹⁰ Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

We must pray according to God’s will not my own selfish will.

We must align ourselves up with the truth of His word.

“His ways are higher than our ways, His thoughts are higher than our thoughts, and His ways, His thoughts… are always best!” ~Pastor Richard Crisco

– We walk in forgiveness.

¹² and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

But today, here, at the end of this prayer, we have a plea to be delivered from falling into new sins.

¹³ And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

The petition in the prayer is primarily for protection. It is a plea for protection from the forces of evil and from oppression.

Merriam-Webster defines oppression -“to crush or burden by abuse of power or authority” or “to burden spiritually or mentally: weigh heavily upon”. 

The devil wants to weigh you down, to burden you with all the cares of this world. 

Websters 1828 Dictionary – “Temptation”   

* The state of being tempted or enticed to evil. When by human weakness you are led into temptation resort to prayer for relief.

Peirasmos – pi-ras–mos’ – A trial or proving

God never tempts anyone with the goal of causing them to sin. 

James 1:13 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. (NKJV) 

God never tempts any one to evil, but he will allow us to be tested. 

James 1:3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. (4) But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. (NKJV)

1 Cor. 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it” (NKJV)

1. We must recognize our weakness.

Desires – Peer pressure – Social expectations 

We are all subject to be tempted (We all will be tempted), but it is not a sin to be tempted… the problem is when we fall to temptation!

Jesus is reminding us that we are caught in the middle of a spiritual battle (a war) between good and evil. 

2. We must realize the reality of Spiritual Warfare and the need for His protection.

2 Corinthians 10: ³ For though we walk in the flesh [as mortal men], we are not carrying on our [spiritual] warfare according to the flesh and using the weapons of man. ⁴ The weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood]. Our weapons are divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. (AMP)

Being ignorant of the fact that there is a great spiritual battle being fought in our world does not erase the fact that it is true.

Temptation cannot be fought with human willpower. The way to resist temptation is to remind yourself that you are a Spiritual being, fighting a Spiritual battle and relying on God and the weapons and authority He has given you! Then and only then will you be able to stand against the wiles of the Devil.

3. We must know what His protection is and how to apply it.

Ephesians 6:¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood,  but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 

¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.¹⁸ And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

1. Belt of truth…

2. Breastplate of Righteousness…

2 Corinthians 5: ²¹ God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

3. Spiritual Shoes – Feet fitted with Gospel of Peace…

4. Above all… The Shield of Faith

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

5. The helmet of Salvation…

6. The sword of the Spirit…Which is the word 

¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word (Rhema) of God.

¹⁸ And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.