Motivation For Men – Keeping It PureSample

“Lead Us Not”

Most of us remember this being part of what's known as "The Lord's Prayer". Perhaps you even know the entire prayer by heart. But have you ever wondered why Jesus would ask God not to lead us into temptation? After all, the book of James teaches us that God Himself cannot be tempted and does not tempt anyone. Why would we have to ask God not to lead us into temptation if it is not His desire to do so in the first place?

One thing we learn from Romans 1 is that God at times gives people over to their own stubborn, willful disobedience. The verses today are a two-fold proclamation. We don't want to be brought or led into temptation, and in fact we wanted to be delivered or rescued from evil. By saying this, we are declaring that we don't want to be that stubborn person that we once were, or even still are. Instead, we want to be the person that is progressively moving from wickedness to righteousness, and we don't want that journey to be interrupted by making a wrong turn and straying off the path.

There are two major consequences to sin. We are separated from the God who created us and we are enslaved. The man who is given over to pornography, adultery or any other form of sexual immorality becomes a slave to that sin, because it has become part of who he is. However, by hiding God's Word in our heart, praying that word, confessing that word, believing that word and acting in accordance with that word, we are declaring ourselves to be someone else. not a slave, but a son.