“Let us not be led into any temptation” (Day 8 of Lord's Prayer)
Praying to the One Who Repairs our Ruptures
(I apologize for getting behind on this Lord’s Prayer series. I was laid up with a cold most of last week. But I’m good again now. Here is the last one. Please email or add in the comments any thoughts or questions.)
We often make it first.
But Jesus makes it last.
We often seek leading from God.
What should I do?
How should I respond?
What should I think about this or that?
We come to our Father in times of need, asking for help.
And this is right and good. We should ask our Father for help. The crisis before us, or our fears of such a crisis, is not unimportant. We shouldn’t feel bad about seeking direction.
If you are new to this LORD’S PRAYER Series, start HERE
From Reacting to Responding
But Jesus places our need for guidance at the end for a reason.
He wants us to move from reacting to responding.
And moving from reacting to responding happens when
We remember the big picture of our Father who is repairing ruptures, and
We remember to work on repairing the ruptures we have worked in the world (by praying to be forgiven of our failing, and forgiving the failings of others).
Looking to the future comes last in prayer so that we have time
to remember who our Father is (the one repairing ruptures),
to remember what is most important (our physical needs in the present)
and to remember who is most important (our relationships needing repair).
Only after remembering these things in prayer do we then seek God’s leading.
“Let us not be led into any temptation”
This seems like an odd prayer for guidance!
There are TWO negatives in it.
Let us not be led
into temptation.
Why is Jesus telling us to pray that God doesn’t lead us into temptation? Does God really do that? Isn’t our Father supposed to repair ruptures, not lead us into them?
God Doesn’t Tempt Us. Right?
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