Why would we need to pray and ask God to not lead us into temptation. The Bible makes it clear in James 1:13-14 (NIV): When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.

There are two ways for people to learn life-lessons from God. The best way is for us to give God permission to teach us the things we need to know and empower us to use them; this is done by praying and asking Him to lead us not into temptation. Then all we have to do is look for the way out; and, we will escape. 1 Cor 10:13 (NIV) No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But WHEN you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

But, some of us are pretty hard-headed; we have to learn some things the hard way. And, since we have a God-given free will, God will allow us to yield to Satan’s temptation and get damaged in the process. It isn’t a sin to be tempted; we sin when we YIELD to the temptation. We sin when we don’t pray for the power to SEE the way out, pray for the power to TAKE the way out, and then USE that power to go through the way out. Lead us not into temptation won’t work unless we constantly SEE, TAKE, AND USE the power to go through the way out. It is a moment-by-moment and issue-by-issue decision to take advantage of the way out.

God doesn’t want us to learn things the hard way; He wants us to have a teachable attitude (poor in spirit: Matthew 5:3) so He can just tell us things and us trust Him. He wants us to take His new training information and start praying and asking for the power to be able to get it into our lives. But, there are those of us who just can’t learn certain things the easy way. So, what happens to a Christian who sins against the wonderful guidance of our heavenly Father?

Since we have ALREADY gone into temptation by yielding to it, it seems like it is too late for us to pray to not be led into it. The big question is, now that we are already involved in yielding to Satan’s temptation, how are we going to get out? We have already asked for and have received God’s forgiveness when we prayed: “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” BUT, now we need God’s power to get out of the situation and His power to never get in that situation again. So, let’s look at how to get out; then we will look at how to stay out.

1 John 1:8 (NIV) If we claim to be without sin, we DECEIVE ourselves and the truth is not in us. First, we have to admit we made mistakes. If we try to justify them, explain them away, forgive ourselves, get our friends to help us feel better about them, or ignore them, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us; we will lose our perfect record with God. We MUST allow the Holy Spirit to point out what we did wrong and allow Him to make us feel bad about them.

1 John 1:9 (NIV) If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and WILL forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. Next, we have to lay out what our mistakes were and what kind of results they brought into our life. We can’t just admit we did “something” wrong; we have to confess our sins. We have to admit each and every thing we did wrong. We have to bring up every sin, one at a time, and tell God we are sorry we sinned THAT SIN against ourselves, other people, and Him.

1 John 1:10 (NIV) If we claim we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar and His word has no place in our lives. Next, we must admit we aren’t the one who decides what truth is. We took what the Bible was telling us, what the Holy Spirit was telling our conscience, and what some of our Christian friends warned us about and rejected them as being LIES. Then we decided to go with our own “truth.” We decided we knew what was best for us and accepted it as truth. Now we need to admit we rejected the truth of God’s directions and replaced them with the LIE of our own opinions.

What 1 John 1:8-10 is dealing with is TRYING to get our relationship with God repaired. When we go our own way by justifying ourselves, explaining our sins away, forgiving ourselves, getting our friends to help us feel better about them, or ignoring them, we damage our relationship with God. He still loves us, is still our heavenly Father, and is still giving us all the rights and privileges of being His child, provided that we listen to 1 John 1:8-10 and stop doing what 1 John 1:8 and 10 say; and, we start doing what 1 John 1:9 says. This is how to GET OUT of a sin situation.

Those who are exposed to 1 John 1:8-10 and repent, will maintain their perfect record with God. Those who are exposed to it and refuse to repent, will lose their perfect record. They stop understanding the Bible, they stop being a child of God and a citizen of His Kingdom, they stop having direct access to God, and they stop being considered perfect by God. They deceive themselves and the truth is not in them. They make God out to be a liar and His word has no place in their lives. This is a person who refuses to GET OUT of a sin situation.

Now, let’s look at how to STAY OUT of a sin situation. From now on, you need to pray to ALWAYS do what God is directing you to do. You need to be able to keep from learning the hard way; you need to be able to not resist the guidance of the Bible, the Holy Spirit speaking to your conscience, and Christian friend’s warnings. You need to be able to follow the leadership that Jesus is giving you, as He talks to you through the Bible, your conscience, your thoughts and feelings, and other Christians. What you need in order to STAY OUT of a sin situation is the POWER to stay out; that comes through prayer.

When the Bible and Jesus warn you about something, immediately go to the Lord’s Prayer. Through it you will be able to pray those things that will EMPOWER you to resist temptation; it will EMPOWER you to be able to yield to God’s power.

If you are ready to start being set free from yielding to these and other temptations to hurt yourself, those around you, and God’s plan, then pray this portion of this prayer. Say: “Lead us not into temptation.”