Lead Us Not into Temptation

We have now rounded a corner in the Lord’s Prayer.  Having talked through the first 5 petitions, we only have 2 petitions left before the doxology and the final, “Amen!”  And it’s almost as if we begin to sense that ending before it’s here.  During the Lord’s Prayer, we enter this sacred moment where we call on our God in prayer, where we engage with this One whose kingdom comes and whose will is done.  We connect with the One who forgives sin and defeats evil in our lives and our world.

But sensing the prayer is almost over, sensing that it is nearly time to end our time of praying and re-enter this broken and troubled world, we pray to God about the temptations we know we will face.  And we ask that we would be delivered from them. 

What’s interesting to note is that as Luther unpacks with petition, the temptations we ask to be lead away from aren’t temptations of the flesh, so to speak.  The greatest temptation we will face is the temptation to “false belief, despair and other great and shameful sins.”  Now certainly the belief that we are more important than our neighbor is a false belief worth being delivered from.  The false belief that our bodies are our own and we can do whatever we want with them is a false belief worth being delivered from.  But despair is the temptation specifically named here.  In this life and in this world, despair seems to be lifted up by Luther as the most important temptation that our Heavenly Father must lead us away from.

And I agree.  For it is in despair when we act as though life doesn’t really matter.  It is in despair that we grow envious of our neighbor and commit great sin against her.  It is in despair when we can be tempted to throw up our hands and say, “to Hell with it all!”

May God keep up from such despair – and in those moments when we do succumb to such despair, may God send people into our lives to speak the truth about God’s love and faithfulness and drag us back into the life of faith and hope.

Remember, my friends.  As you journey today, you are not alone.

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