Matthew 6:9 “This, then, is how you should pray:…13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
Here’s my question for today. Do you believe God uses temptation to see what you’re made of? My immediate answer was “no.” I think that’s the right answer but temptation and evil are real and Jesus prayer recognizes that. I want my answer to be real too, not just a gut reaction.
My observations:
Sometimes our focus is more on praying the devil out of our life than praying the Triune God into it to change us. That seems like giving that evil one more power than we should. Sometimes the devil is a convenient excuse for the bad behavior of broken people in a broken world doing awful things.
The Santa Claus Theology: Job 1:9 “Satan replied, Would Job worship you if he got nothing out of it?” Temptation is Satan’s power to destroy faith by convincing us God’s blessing is only a bribe for good behavior.
The Need Theology: James 1:13 “When tempted, no one should say, God is tempting me. For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.” God doesn’t waste his power tempting us. He’s focused on building faith first, then behavior. That faith has the power over temptation to reveal our broken desires to US so when we pray “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” we’ll finally understand “desire” for the Triune God IS the blessing and gift.
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