Matthew 6:13:
And lead us not into temptation…
This particular passage has provided more challenges to discern its intent than most other phrases in Scripture. We must look at it from Love’s perspective. First of all, Jesus was led into the wilderness by The Spirit to be tempted. This was in the Heavenly Father’s plan. This time in the wilderness was designed to heighten the senses beyond the norm. When you set yourself apart from outside stimuli, you become more sensitive. When you fast for a long period of time, every morsel of food is savored to draw out the fullness of its nutritional value.
The setting of this prayer is your “prayer closet”. We are asking Our Heavenly Father that as we develop a heightened Spiritual sensitivity, to protect us from its misuse by giving us wisdom, understanding, and knowledge in order to properly operate in our calling. Effectively, hold back on the resources until we can handle them. If your gifts operate at full capacity before you are sufficiently prepared, you will “crash and burn”.
Stewardship of money provides us with a great example. Wisdom and understanding are required to handle great sums of money. How many lottery winners have lost all of their winnings in a short period of time? Casinos are full of people whose wisdom is insufficient for their pocketbooks. How much money can you handle without being tempted to misuse your resources? How many of us pray “Father, withhold your resources until I am sufficiently mature to handle them.”? A Loving Father will not give you more than you can handle. If we are impatient, we subject ourselves to self-glory and begin to believe that we are able to handle things on our own. Further, we must not tempt Our Heavenly Father by demanding or manipulating Spiritual laws to satisfy “self”. As we become Spiritually sensitive and mature, we will acknowledge the need to withhold any resource beyond our capacity to manage it properly, no matter what the resource is. Our acknowledgement is expressed by “lead us not into temptation”.
…But deliver us from the evil one.
Jesus utilized the Word to be delivered from the authority of the devil. He was tempted in the three areas: spirit, soul, and body. All three areas are subject to adversity. We must be sufficiently tested in each area in order to become fully operational in our calling. This is also a reference to the time in the wilderness for the children of Israel. Our Heavenly Father sustained them and showed HIS great and mighty works. HE delivered them from slavery but then had to give them time to abandon the slave mentality. They needed to be separated from the world’s system and yet be sustained until they were able to enter into the Promised Land. We must acknowledge Who can and will be our Deliverer. We are not capable on our own, separated from Our Heavenly Father, to withstand the evil one. We must admit that without HIM, we are insufficient and have no power apart from HIM. The Lord’s Prayer ends with this acknowledgement:
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
In 1 Chronicles 29, King David was preparing to receive the offerings to build the Temple. His son Solomon was to be anointed king over Israel and would actually oversee the project. Wisdom, understanding, and knowledge would be required for the proper construction of the Temple. Solomon laid the foundation by asking for wisdom. Understanding and knowledge were then added. King David set the stage for the transition by proclaiming to all:
10 Therefore David blessed the LORD before all the assembly; and David said:
“Blessed are You, LORD God of Israel, our Father, forever and ever.
11 Yours, O LORD, is the greatness,
The power and the glory,
The victory and the majesty;
For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours;
Yours is the kingdom, O LORD,
And You are exalted as head over all.
12 Both riches and honor come from You,
And You reign over all.
In Your hand is power and might;
In Your hand it is to make great
And to give strength to all.
13 “Now therefore, our God,
We thank You
And praise Your glorious name.
14 But who am I, and who are my people,
That we should be able to offer so willingly as this?
For all things come from You,
And of Your own we have given You.
15 For we are aliens and pilgrims before You,
As were all our fathers;
Our days on earth are as a shadow,
And without hope.
The Lord’s Prayer ends with our profession of unity and agreement with Our Heavenly Father as we say “Amen!”. We are to be HIS witnesses and expression on the earth. Jesus constructed this concise prayer to contain the essence of our life and relationship to Our Heavenly Father and the rest of mankind. When you pray you should consider the fullness of these words. As you do, they will come alive to you and change will occur. The simplicity allows every person to expect results no matter where they are in their walk. Think about it.