The Enemy Within

The Enemy Within

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one….

Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.…

Matthew 6:13; James 1:13-14

In order for us to understand what Christ is teaching us to pray, we ought to look at other passages of Scripture which help shed light on the subject of temptation. We have considered the role of the evil one thus far. What are we to make of the phrase ‘lead us not into temptation?’ Before we consider what it does mean, we ought to establish what it does not mean. The second text which appears above helps us here. James declares, ‘Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.’  Here we see that God Himself does not tempt us to sin. James lays the responsibility for our sin at the foot of our own depravity. This brings us to the place of repentance without any attempt to shift the blame off on someone else. Adam shifted the blame for his sin off on the woman, and included God by implication. Eve shifted the blame off onto the serpent, or Satan. Unpleasantly, this continues to be a common practice. Very often, we find that it is much easier to blame God, or Satan, or someone else, rather than to own that our own depravity has been at the root of our sinful behavior. We may and should pray, as Christ has taught us, ‘lead us not into temptation.’ Having said that, when temptation comes, and especially when we sin, we ought to take the responsibility for how we got there. There are, in fact, many temptations from which He does preserve us. Hence, ‘lead us not into temptation’ is a prayer He answers.

Our Great and Mighty Deliverer,
we praise You that You understand us thoroughly.
We rejoice that You do deliver us from the evil one
and preserve us from falling to temptation.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning