Robert Morris - The Protection of Prayer

We all experience trials and temptations. God wants us to pray every day for protection from the Enemy and for victory over temptation.

The Lord’s Prayer is a pattern that teaches us how to pray. The portion to memorize for this week is the first part of Matthew 6:13: “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

God can’t tempt us because it’s contrary to His character to tempt anyone (James 1:12–14). In fact, He blesses us and rewards us for enduring temptation. Temptation occurs when our desires (even for good things) take our focus off of God. Then when our focus is no longer on God, Satan comes to tempt us into fulfilling that desire without God. God is never the tempter— Satan is (Matthew 4:3; 1 Thessalonians 3:5).

God leads us into trials, but He won’t mislead us. Testing is always for our good and for growing our character (Deuteronomy 8:16; James 1:2–3). However, the tempter is also in the trial. That’s why Jesus taught us to pray: “Deliver us from evil.” Jesus was led into a trial where He was tempted (Matthew 4:1–11). He understands our battles with temptation (Hebrews 4:15). Because He triumphed over his temptation and was strengthened by it (Luke 4:14), He is able to help us overcome temptation (Hebrews 2:18).

God will deliver us from temptation if we’ll pray. He’ll never allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13). With every temptation, He gives us a way of escape (2 Timothy 4:18; 2 Peter 2:9). Our part in being delivered is to pray every day for protection from the Enemy and for success over temptation (Matthew 26:41; John 17:15; Psalm 119:133).