'Heavenly Father, lead us not into
temptation.' Who or what can tempt
us? What are the sources of
temptation? From the prayer itself,
logically, the first answer must be
- God. God our heavenly Father may
lead us into temptation. He will not
entice us to do wrong. As the letter
of James makes plain, our heavenly
Father would never tempt us to do
that which he hates. He may,
however, lead us into situations
where, because of our own passions
or weaknesses, because of the
enticement of those around us or
because of Satan's games, we will
face strong encouragement or
temptation to do wrong.
Not
surprisingly, many people have
stumbled over these words. How can
it be that God would lead us into
temptation? Surely there must be
some mistake? Well, in a sense,
there is. It lies in our use of old
and treasured words, even when they
have several shades of meaning. We
will be hard pressed to find a
better word than the all-embracing
word 'temptation', but need to bear
in mind that, acknowledging our
weakness, we are asking that our
heavenly Father would not bring us
to times of overwhelming trial or
testing.
In
the sense of trials and testings,
temptations can be good or they can
be bad. They can so easily cause us
to fall. And yet, successfully
resisted, they can strengthen us and
enable us to grow and live more
boldly for God. In this positive
sense each disciple needs to grow in
ability to face temptation.
For a moment we leave the splendour
of the house and step outside to the
coach-houses and the stable block.
Great houses have always had very
extensive stables, often clustered
round a straw-blown stable yard.
There is something particularly
attractive about the scene, the warm
smell of fresh straw and manure,
half open stable doors, chestnut
heads, the 'clomp' of a heavy horse
or the light canter of a favourite
pony.
It is
only during this last hundred years
that motor cars and tractors have
replaced horses, reducing the
stabling and riding of horses to a
leisure pursuit. Until then almost
everyone would learn to ride, as
today almost everyone learns to
drive. Learning to drive or learning
to ride is a risky and testing time
- a time of temptation.
As a son of the house learns to
ride, for example, he will first be
placed in the saddle of the smallest
and most dependable pony and gently
led a few paces. As he grows more
confident the length of the halter
rope can be extended, giving him
greater freedom to be in charge of
the pony, until the day comes when
he no longer needs to be led but can
be the master of his own pony. His
ability to ride has been carefully
matched with the trial, danger and
risk of a fall. Our heavenly Father
is like that, he will allow us to be
tested in order to enable us to
grow, to mature.
Again, there comes a time when the
youngster is first allowed to ride
out into the open country and onto
the road. What temptation! What
risk! The pony might bolt or the
lad, as yet without practical
experience or road sense, might
gallop away in a crazy manner. Yet,
unless he is allowed out of the
stable yard, he will never learn to
ride - and so it is with us. God is
the best of fathers. His will is our
ongoing growth as disciples. His aim
is that we might stand strong and
spiritually mature through days of
temptation. We will only stand firm
in such times if, before then, our
heavenly Father has allowed us to
grow by leading us through many
times of testing and trial. Like the
best of fathers God does allow us to
grow, he allows us to flex our
spiritual muscles. He allows us to
use the spiritual sword so that we
might be prepared for spiritual
warfare and stand in the day of
difficulty. In this sense God, our
heavenly Father, leads us into
temptation.
We
often admire the spiritual giants
among us - but it is salutary to ask
them to tell of some of the many,
sore trials they have faced; the
trials that have brought them to the
strong and radiant faith we now so
envy.
As we
pray, the Lord has given us an
opportunity to stop and remember
that we are weak and frail and set
in a fallen world, a world full of
danger and hurt; physical, mental
and spiritual and to pray for
God-given wisdom and protection.
'Lord watch over us, please keep us
humbly aware of the dangers that
surround us, growing in ability to
face them, and safe. Do not let us
be tested beyond the little we can
stand.'
The
double edged sword of temptation
Although temptation is always an
opportunity to grow in spiritual
strength and maturity, it is also a
snare that would cause us to
stumble. Our heavenly Father is in
control of all our circumstances,
poverty or plenty, war or peace,
life or death. But under his hand,
the world will tempt us with its
delights, privileges, possessions
and power. The flesh, our own anger,
passions, moods, weaknesses and
inner corruptions will leave us wide
open to temptation. And Satan,
always in the background, will seek
to play on our human weaknesses and
on our circumstances for his own
ends.
Even
a mature and able rider can be
thrown by a slip, a stone, a branch
or a frightened horse. The most
mature disciple is equally
vulnerable. We do need to learn to
walk humbly; to pray frequently for
protection, discernment, wisdom and
grace. In this petition our Lord
teaches us to do so.
Behind our daily, small temptations
to stray from God's holy ways lies
the great temptation to rebel
against God. We may be gently lured
away little by little, like sheep
eating one desirable patch of grass
after the next, until we have
strayed far from godly ways and
thinking. Alternatively we may come
under great pressure to deny the
faith and turn our back on God. In
the Old Testament, the great
temptation of Job to 'curse God and
die' was of this nature. Pray that
our heavenly Father would spare us
from such terrible temptation. Pray
for those imprisoned even now for
their faith and enticed with the
promise of 'instant freedom' if they
will deny their faith and assent to
some other faith, philosophy or
world view. The great tribulation of
which the New Testament warns must
be of this nature; times when Satan
and his servants do all in their
power to seduce, crush and
disinherit the saints of God.
Temptation from the world
The world around us is our great
testing ground, for it cares nothing
for God or godly ways. It will
present us with an attractive and
brightly-lit, supermarket display of
alternative lifestyles, faiths and
world views. Like shoppers we are
enticed and urged to choose for
ourselves and be uncritical of the
choices of others. True
Christianity, judged to have passed
its sell-by date, is generally no
longer stocked. But the world will
present us with a 'museum corner' of
musty and outdated hymn books, damp
and dark churches, strange robes and
rituals that have little or no
bearing on real life.
The
world will also tempt us with short
cuts to fame and fortune; offer to
make each of us instant millionaires
and owners of our own stately home.
It will tempt us with sharp practice
in business and less than integrity
in dealing with other people's
money. Although the law and codes of
practice aim to restrict gross
malpractice there will always be the
pressure and the powerful temptation
to search for loopholes or weak
points in the fence of the law or
places where it can be 'moved a
little' for our personal or
corporate gain. In business and at
home we will be tempted to put
ourselves first and regard everyone
else as 'disposable'. Trust and
honourable dealing are closely tied
to godliness and so for the
disciple, the Christian, this fallen
world presents a whole minefield of
temptation.
Temptation from within
Our own flesh will tempt us in so
many ways. We will be enticed to
throw off the 'inhibitions of
godliness' and seek
'self-fulfilment',
self-gratification at every level.
We will be tempted to be carried
along by our moods and feelings.
Anger, resentment and 'black moods'
take a conscious effort to manage in
a God-honouring way, but the
temptation will always be to give
them free rein, to give vent to our
feelings by 'taking it out' on those
around us.
We
will be enticed to throw off
'outdated morality', enjoy ourselves
and be 'free'. Being human we will
be sorely tempted to cut free from
the narrow path of discipleship and
join in. 'And do I not burn with
passion,' says the apostle Paul as
he speaks of another man's fall.
King
David, a full-blooded warrior, sent
his troops to fight while he spent
an idle spring in Jerusalem. Looking
out from the roof-top resting place
of his royal house his eyes fell on
a beautiful woman bathing - maybe
she intended it to be that way. The
temptation was overwhelming . . .
and the outcome: adultery, intrigue,
manslaughter and a home-life dogged
with difficulty.
In
the course of his duty, Joseph, as a
young and attractive slave in Egypt,
found himself passionately desired
by his master's wife. (The
occupational hazard of a resident
helper or 'au pair'. . . !) For
Joseph the invitations were
incessant, the opportunities
plentiful but, by the grace of God,
he stood his ground holding his
master's marriage in honour: 'Far be
it from me to sin against heaven and
my master.' The lady's determination
and passion grew and the moment came
when Joseph's priority was to get
out, to escape. Says scripture,
'Flee fornication,' unashamedly run
from it. Faced with the devil, stand
your ground, but faced with
immorality show your heels.
Sometimes we need to get out,
whatever the taunts or threats. For
Joseph it meant prison, but under
the hand of God it was also the
pathway by which he was lead to
great usefulness. God honours those
who honour him.
Spiritual warfare
The world will squeeze us into its
mould, the flesh is weak and
vulnerable and Satan, who plays on
our circumstances, whatever they
are, will turn them to trip us.
We
deceive ourselves so easily and are
blissfully unaware of the dangers in
which we stand. Like little children
who will just run into a road, we so
easily run into a situation in which
we are overwhelmed by difficulty or
temptation. That is exactly what
happened to the apostle Peter. Jesus
had warned him that Satan would
tempt him, but said Peter; 'Lord,
they may fall away, but I will stand
firm even to death.' Peter did not
know himself, or the overwhelming
nature of temptation. He did not
know the danger into which he was
running. He was so sure of his own
strength that he rushed into
terrible testing. Then, confronted
by ordinary people who identified
him as one of Jesus' disciples, the
great apostle totally collapsed.
However, before you condemn Peter,
put yourself in his position. The
Lord had been violently arrested and
was facing death. The accusation is
made: 'You were there. You are one
of them.' How would you react? It is
easy to point the finger at Peter
but, if on your immediate answer,
hung imprisonment or freedom, life
or death, would it not appear
'wiser' to say, 'I never knew him.'
The temptation is absolutely
overwhelming and that is the nature
of temptation. Yet, like Peter, we
so easily rush into it. They were no
fools who taught us to pray morning
by morning, '. . . that we might
fall into no sin neither run into
any kind of danger.'
- If
we are young we will be invited many
times to join the party: 'Enjoy
yourself. Break free. Just forget
God and the narrow path of faith'
- If
we are poor we may be sorely tempted
to steal or deceive to obtain what
we feel we need: 'They have so much
more than I do, I have a right to
take it . . .'
- If
we are fit and well we will be
tempted to forget God in the whirl
of sport, family, pleasure or
business life.
- If
we are successful and rich, we will
be tempted to put God out of our
thinking: 'I have no longer any need
of God.'
-
Should we fall seriously ill, we
will be tempted to self-pity, to
murmur against those who are looking
after us: 'They do not really care.
They have not noticed how terrible I
feel this morning or that I need . .
.' Self pity is the temptation
matched exactly to those who are
unwell. The same temptation may be
directed towards God - to doubt his
goodness: 'If God really cared,
would he leave me in this
situation?' - or to doubt his power:
'God does not seem able to help me.'
-
Finally, when we are in our last
days, we may be tempted to be
grasping and possessive, hanging on
to old ways, things and the people
we still have: 'How could you think
of going out and leaving me all
alone for two whole hours?
There
is an almost infinite variety of
temptations each presented by, and
hence precisely matched to, our
particular situation. It is for this
reason that other people's
temptations are always so much
easier to face than our own! Their
temptations would never trip us up
but our own are much more difficult.
Each temptation, each time of
testing, is an opportunity to grow,
to make a God-honouring response . .
. or to tumble.
Our Lord is teaching us that we need
to be aware, as Peter was so
blissfully unaware, that we are
frail and vulnerable and open to
attack. He is teaching us to
recognise that the world, the flesh
and Satan will test us sorely,
teaching us to take each situation
to our heavenly Father before we set
out. Jesus is teaching us to pray,
as he prayed in the garden before
his arrest. He prayed but Peter did
not. He is teaching us to pray for
courage, guidance and protection and
teaching us to pray that our
heavenly Father's will may be done
as we face each new and testing
situation.
Praying for one another
Again, do notice that we are not
just praying for ourselves. Here, as
throughout the Lord's Prayer, it is
'us' and 'our' not 'me' and 'my'.
Certainly, 'Lead me not into
temptation,' as I meet with such and
such a situation or person, but also
'us' and 'our'. Kingdoms, countries,
multinational companies and churches
are all being constantly tested and
can all be sorely tempted. In the
far reaching decisions that are made
in parliaments, boardrooms and
committees the temptations for
short-term gain, for exploitation,
for worldly but ungodly ways are
very great. The church itself is
constantly tempted to be a mere
religious mirror of the secular
society in which it lives, to follow
the latest moral or political
fashion or to be less than
straightforward in its handling of
money. Therefore pray that they, or
we, as we play our part, may not be
led into temptation, but may stand
with godly integrity and courage.
Such prayers have by no means passed
their sell-by date!
Finally, in the opening chapter of
the Old Testament book of Job, we
are shown Job praying for his
family. He is praying for his sons
in their eating and drinking and
making merry. 'Lord God, there are
so many dangers, lead them not into
temptation, forgive them where they
have fallen, keep them safe.' What a
helpful pattern for our own praying.
The
Lord himself, in the garden before
his arrest urged the disciples to
pray that they might not fall into
temptation. He also prayed for them.
'Peter, Satan has desired to sift
you as wheat is sifted, to test and
tempt you very severely, but I have
prayed for you'.
'But
I have prayed for you.' How many of
us have cause to thank God for those
who prayed for us in worldly,
fleshly, God-forgetting days as
Satan sought to test us. I thank God
for a praying grandmother who prayed
while I wandered blissfully unaware
through the spiritual minefield of
student days.
'Father, we pray that you would keep
us, and those we care about, safe.
May we not be squeezed by the world,
ruled by the flesh or manipulated by
Satan to do what seems expedient or
desirable in the moment, but live
and act by godly principle. Give us
increasing discernment, wisdom and
courage to live for you day by day.'
References
God
tempts no one - James 1:13
'Curse God' - Job 1:11, 2:5 & 2:9
The great tribulation - Matthew
24:21 & Revelation 7 13-17
'And do I not burn' (with passion or
indignation) - 2 Corinthians 11:29
David tempted - 2 Samuel 11:2-5
Joseph tempted - Genesis 39:6-20
'Flee fornication' - 1 Corinthians
6:18
Those who honour him - 1 Samuel 2:30
Jesus warning Peter - Luke 22:31-34
Peter's temptation - Luke 22:55-62
Job and his family - Job 1:4&5
'To sift you as wheat' - Luke 22:31
Questions
1 In what ways and to what purpose
can our heavenly Father lead us
into, and through, times and
situations of sore temptation?
2 For the disciple of Christ, in
what sense is the whole of life
temptation?
3 How can this petition humble us
and so help us to cope with our
natural spiritual pride?
4 Which particular temptations does
our own society forcefully present
to us?
5 Does the desire 'to be ourselves',
'to freely express and be the person
our genes and environment would make
us', need to be brought under the
control of our Lord's call to
holiness of living, taking up our
cross daily and following him?
6 Joseph, chased by his master's
wife, had to make some hard choices.
For what two reasons did he refuse
to do as she asked? Can these
reasons be useful to us? Could
Joseph's situation serve as a useful
warning to us about living in
another person's house? . . . or
even what could happen when someone
comes to live in ours?
7 Does God still honour those who
honour him?
8 Strong and blustering Peter rushed
into terrible temptation - would we
have done any better had we been in
his situation?
9 Why are other people's temptations
no great problem to us when our own
are so difficult?
10 In what ways does it help us if
we recognise that, despite our
apparent self-reliance and strength,
we are actually frail and vulnerable
and open to attack?
11 What value is there in praying
for our friends, our families and
for one another that we do not fall
into temptation?
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