Armodoxy for Today: 10x One Minutes on the Lord’s Prayer, Part 9 – Protect us from Temptation

“And lead us not into temptation” is a bit misleading, when we recite it at the end of the Lord’s Prayer. It lends to the belief that somehow, we are on the puppet strings of the Grand Puppeteer, and we are begging that he does not steer us in toward temptation.

The true request here is, may God protect us from temptation. When we see, hear, or think tempting thoughts, may God give us the wisdom, the clarity of vision and the openness of mind to stay away from those things that draw us to sin.

Temptation is all around us. God doesn’t take us there. Rather, He gives us the tools with which we can overcome temptation.  When Jesus offers us the Lord’s prayer, it is in the context of the Sermon on the Mount, where he is challenging us all to find purity of mind as we live our lives. God gives us the strength and will to not be led toward it.

Today’s one minute on the Lord’s Prayer, for Summertime.