God isn’t going to lead us into temptation, is He? Jesus isn’t going to tell us to pray something that isn’t a matter of concern. This prayer, He is presenting for us to pray, is very concise and to the point. There are no wasted words. Everything included in this prayer is in here because it is vital to our spiritual and physical needs. It may not seem to be an issue of concern to us. But, Jesus is saying that it is very important.

Mat 4:1 (NIV) Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.

Jesus has already faced Satan and been tempted for us. Jesus didn’t need to come here and go through the things He went through. He was led into the desert to be tempted by the devil for us.

As you can see, when you read this account, Satan was no match for Jesus. Jesus wasn’t challenged by the devil’s efforts. He is God and is all powerful. He went out there to win for us. He is why we CAN pray: “Lead us not into temptation.”

James 1:13-15 (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. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

Being led into temptation is different from being tempted by God. We may be led by God into an issue of temptation to strategically temper our ministry. In other words, it isn’t an uncontrolled temptation. As in the case of Jesus’ temptation in the desert, Satan isn’t going to be allowed to do anything he wants to us. But, Satan is being allow to do certain things to us.

What is the object? For us to get into such an arena and defeat Satan hands down just like Jesus did. God was going to allow Peter to be tempted during the trial and crucifixion of Jesus. Jesus gave Peter all the necessary training, warnings, and opportunities. However, Peter didn’t use all of them successfully. We really get a clear picture of how it works in the book of Job.