There are not a lot of examples in the gospels of people asking Jesus to teach them something. But in Luke 11, Jesus’ disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray. Perhaps more amazingly is that Jesus teaches them to pray in just fifty-odd words (about 290 characters by my count – just a little more than a tweet!)
In the next 8 blogs, we’ll look at the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6 and Luke 11. We’ll do this slowly and allow the truths of Jesus’ teaching to shape and encourage our prayer lives.
Keep Us
28th June 2021
The final things that Jesus teaches us to pray are,
'lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil’ (Matthew 6:13)
Compared to praying for the provision of daily needs and forgiveness, it might be easy to think that this is less important. We all have a tendency to prioritise what we think we need right now. And too often we don’t think we need to pray these words.
However, when we realise that there is a spiritual battle going on – a battle that we do not physically see – then it is paramount that we pray these words.
When we realise that we are in a daily, hour-by-hour battle against sin and the powers of darkness then it is of great importance that we pray these words.
The enemy is real
Scripture tells us that the devil is a liar and a deceiver and one of the greatest lies that he tells us is that we don’t need to worry about his schemes. We fall for the lie that says the darkness isn’t that bad and sin has no consequences. We can be easily deceived that it is ok to play around with sin and as long as we don’t do anything too bad then we’ll be ok.
But the enemy is real. Even though he is a defeated foe, he remains the ruler of this world. And what we might think is harmless sin is, in fact, the opposite. Remember that sin is disobedience to our Father and so it is never harmless. It is why Paul exhorts us to flee from sin.
So pray to the one who keeps us
Therefore, in light of our ongoing battle against sin and the present rule of the devil, we cry out to our Father to deliver us from evil and keep us from temptation to sin. Not as an afterthought, not as something that is less important, but as something that every one of us desperately needs every day. There is not a day that goes by that I do not sin and it is not a battle I can endure on my own.
So we pray to our Father, the one who promised to defeat the devil and the power of sin; the one who through His Son, Jesus, has secured the victory over sin and the devil; and the one who has given authority to Jesus to banish the devil and end the rule of sin once and for all at the end of this age.
In praying this prayer, we stop looking into ourselves for the power to stand against sin and the devil and we joyfully take our stand in Jesus our Saviour.
Testing is always for our good
While we ask God to please keep us from temptation, there are times when God sovereignly allows us to face temptation. James 1:13 tells us that God does not tempt us but there are times when He allows us to be tempted. James also tells us that when our faith is tested we can count it as joy because God uses the temptation to produce steadfastness in us. The goal of our testing is that our faith in Jesus might be strengthened.
Paul gives us words of great hope when we face temptation,
No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:13)
We see two things here:
First, God will never allow us to be tempted beyond what we can cope with. His faithfulness towards us means that testing is always to build us up in the faith and never to crush our faith.
Second, God has provided a way of escape in temptation. Notice Paul doesn’t say there is a way to escape temptation all together, or a way to get out of it. No. Paul says there is a way to escape temptation so that we can endure it.
What is our means of escape?
Flee from sin and run to Christ. Run to Christ and to His word. Find refuge in the place of prayer. The worst thing we can do is try and fight temptation empty handed. Instead,
Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 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. Therefore put on the full armour 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. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
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. (Ephesians 6:11-18)
How does this affect us as we pray this week?
Praise
Praise God that Jesus is our means to endure all temptation and find deliverance for the evil one. Praise God that we do not stand against sin and the devil on our own but in the power of Jesus who has saved us from sin and evil. Praise God for His victory over sin, the devil and evil. Praise God for His compassion towards us to deliver us from the darkness and bring us into His light.
Repent
Repent of the times when we have taken sin’s temptations lightly, when we have simply given in or gone into the battle empty handed. Pray God’s forgiveness and seek His strength for the daily battle ahead.
Ask
Pray that God would protect our brothers and sisters at Calderwood from indwelling sin, from the allures of the world, from the ways of the world that go against Christ, and from the devil. May we endure well and, in doing so, may God strengthen our faith in Him.
Yield
Daily remind ourselves and one another of how good and satisfying it is to be a follower of Jesus. Seek to see sin as God sees it with a righteous hatred and seek to love God’s ways and God’s will.
Next - 'The Ending'