“And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen” (Matt. 6:13 NKJV).
In the Lord’s Prayer, we say, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil.” Does God lead us into temptation? It sure sounds like it.
Are we not saying, “God, please don’t lead me into temptation, lest I sin against You.” But James tells us, “No one, when tempted, should say, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself tempts no one” (James 1:13). So there is no way God is going to be leading you into temptation.
So what does it mean when Jesus tells us to pray to God, “do not lead us into temptation?” There are two solutions to the difficulty. Either we don’t understand “lead” or we don’t understand “temptation.”
Time of Trial
The first solution is to translate the word for temptation as “trail.” And so the New Revised Standard Version translates it, “And do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one.” Clearly, God does lead people to be tested. “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tested by the devil” (Matt. 4:1).
But I don’t think this is correct. Why would we pray against the leading of the Holy Spirit. A faith that can’t be tested, can’t be trusted. And the sooner we find that out, the better.
So no, I don’t think that answer is correct. For James tells us not to pray against the “various trials,” but to “consider it all joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance” (James 1:2-3).
Don’t Let Us Be Led
The second answer is that the word “lead” is passive, not active. That is, God is not doing the leading but is allowing us to be led, by not interfering in the process. This is the solution that the New Living Translation takes, “And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.”
In other words, don’t let us be led into temptation. “Keep us from falling into sin when we are tempted” (Matt. 6:13 NIRV). “Do not let us agree to do wrong things” (Matt. 6:13 EASY). The world, the flesh, and the devil are trying to lead us into temptation in order to get us to sin against God. But Jesus tells us to pray that God would help us not be led into temptation, but resist it. This, I believe, is the correct interpretation.
So the next time you are praying the Lord’s Prayer, remember that “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil” means “let us not be lead into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”
