Ever wondered why Jesus taught us to pray “Lead me not
into temptation” (Matthew 6:13)? After all, God doesn’t tempt anyone to sin
(James 1:13), so why should we ask Him not to?
1. Because
Jesus told us to. That ought to be enough.
2. Because
temptation is the gateway to sin. Except for Christ, every other person on
the planet succumbs to temptation a certain percentage of the time.
3. Because
it’s humbling. Temptation isn’t a game, it’s a problem. And praying about
it acknowledges we need help.
4. Because
if you’re praying about temptation, you’re less likely to be giving in to
it.
5. Because
it connects us to our wonderful Lord. “Because he himself has suffered
when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted” (Hebrews
2:18, ESV).
I admire, and love, Christ because He can and will help us with our sin battle. It’s a blessing to come to Him for forgiveness when we’ve
blown it and given in to temptation, but even better to seek His help
beforehand so we won’t.
