The Lord’s Prayer | Lead Us Not Into Temptation, But Deliver Us From the Evil One

The coming of God's kingdom that we pray for in the Lord's Prayer is contested by two things: Our own hearts, full of sin, and the evil one, Satan. 

The prayer here alerts us to our own hearts need to be tested, to see what they truly are. This is what we mean when we pray to not be led into temptation or to be tested. We find a strong example of what Jesus means here in the story of Abraham and Sarah. We, like them, desire to attain the blessing of God apart from Him, and try to manufacture the blessing on our own power. When we do, sometimes we will find ourselves tested to see if desire the blessing God gives more than God himself.

When we are tempted, however, we will meet the evil one, who seeks to tear our hearts to worship ourselves and our own ability. When we do, we must pray for deliverance as Jesus teaches.

Thankfully, we do not need to rely on our own ability because we rely in the faithfulness of the One who has remained faithful in the test, Jesus. Pastor Joel explains how Jesus's own faithfulness in the test gives us power and hope for when we face our own.