How We Pray "The LORD’s Prayer"
Week Five
Monday
". . . and lead us not into temptation . . ."Matthew 4:1-11
THE SIXTH PETITION This prayer petitionmay seem to suggest that God tempts us to sin. Martin Luther in his Small Catechism wrote:"God tempts no one to sin, but we ask in this prayer that God would watch over us andkeep us so that the devil, the world, and our sinful self my not deceive us and draw usinto false belief, despair, and other great and shame- ful sins. And we pray that eventhough we are so tempted we may still win the final victory." Alvin Rogness, in hisLittle book, LIVING IN THE KINGDOM, wrote: "Since God is not the tempter, wepray that he will keep us from being tempted by evil or from being crushed by disaster– and that when we are tested by such adversities, we may be given strength to resistand to overcome."
Tuesday
". . . and lead us not into temptation . . ."James 1:12-15
We certainly are uncomfortable with theidea or possibility suggested in this petition that God would tempt us or lead us intosituations of temptation; and if that were so, what kind of God do we have to whom wepray? How can it be possible that this heavenly Father (our "ABBA"), this caring bread-giver, this loving forgiver of sins, would change character and lead us down a path of temptation? Life does present us with challenges, trials, and times of temptation; andthose times can be a faith testing time. We think of temptation as a leading Into sin, buttemptation can also be understood as a testing of faith. When disease and pain comes, whenhardship or disaster strikes us or our family, how does our faith stand up? Can we, with Jesus, stand strong against the true temptor, Satan?
Wednesday
". . . and lead us not into temptation . . ." Mark 1:12-13
Test, and trial, and temptation, is alife-long battle for all of us. When we read the gospel stories of the temptation of Jesusit is clear that 1) it was the Spirit that lead Jesus into the wilderness, and 2) thatJesus withstood the "temptations" of Satan and passed the test of being trulyGod’s Son. In order to be fully what he was born to be, Jesus, too, faced temptationand his trust (faith) in God, his heavenly Father, remained unbroken in spite of the trialof living in the wilderness for 40 days and nights. The number forty is significant in theBible – it implies a full span of time, a life-time. Our "forty days" is anon-going lifetime. Often we are in the "wilderness" and Satan comes and offersus (tempts us) with deceptive fruit to destroy our faith. As frail humans we call upon Godto help us – that we faithfully may remain God’s people.
Thursday
". . . but deliver us from evil . . ." Hebrews 2:14-18
THE SEVENTH PETITION Martin Lutherwrote, "We ask in this inclusive prayer that our heavenly Father would save us fromevery evil to body and soul, And at our last hour would mercifully take us from thetroubles of this world to himself in heaven." Alvin Rogness wrote, "We have beendelivered from the dominion of tyranny of the evil powers by Christ’s victory, but"the Devil, the world, and our sinful self" still trouble us and seek to captureus. As people who have been set free by Christ, we pray for his help to be faithfulwarriors against all shapes of evil." (LIVING IN THE KINGDOM, page 146). Thesetwo petitions, the sixth and seventh, go tightly together. We pray that we might be sparedsevere temptation that would Threaten our faith; but even more so -- that we might besaved ("delivered"), freed from the power of evil in our daily lives.
Friday
". . . but deliver us from evil . . ." Hebrews 4:14-16
Some have suggested that thispetition should be translated -- "save us from the evil one" – meaningSatan. As the Spirit of God leads us through the wilderness of life, Satan is alwayslurking in the background to send his tests and trials of our faithfulness. While we knowthat in Christ we have the great promise of salvation by God’s grace through ourfaith, we do need and pray for God’s guidance and protection throughout our lives. Weask God to deliver us from the power of evil (Satan) and give us the endurance towithstand the test. We pray for God to lead us through life, to help us have the enduranceof true faith. And so, Jesus, knowing that no one escapes tests, trials, and temptations,tells us in this prayer to ask God to stay with us through them, and ultimately save us.
Saturday
" . . . For thine is the kingdom . . ." Revelation 1:4-6
These words are not part of theoriginal prayer that Jesus told us to pray. These words are words of the church as kind ofa conclusion to the Lord’s Prayer. It is often called a "doxology." Adoxology is a statement of praise to God. Some churches do not recognize or use theLord’s Prayer doxology because it is not part of Jesus’ original teaching. Thedoxology expresses certain summary facts: the only real "kingdom" belongs toGod; it is God, the creator and sustainer, who has the final and ultimate power; andpraise and glory should be given to God forever. It is formed of two Greek words: logos,which means "word" -- an utterance, or statement about someone or something;and doxa, which means "glory," -- describing the brilliance of something,object or event. Put together, the one word means a statement of praise for the brillianceof the LORD, our God.