Marco Polo, the famous medieval traveller, tells of a great desert near the town of Lop where evil spirits lured travelers to destruction by means of an extraordinary delusion. If a traveler had fallen behind the caravan and was by himself, he would hear his name called in a familiar tone or voice. Thinking it was the voice of a companion or a friend, he would leave the road and follow the voice and thereby perish.
Probably no such place as Marco Polo describes ever existed. Nevertheless, what he relates is a parable which describes the temptation each and everyone face in our life at some time or the other.
We continue our study on the pattern of prayer given to us by Jesus. The verse for today's meditionation is
The Greek word for "temptation" here is the same one peirasmos that was used in Matthew 4 to relate how Jesus was led up to the wilderness to be "tempted" by the devil. So in simple terms this prayer is, "Lord, lead us not into a place where we will be tempted by the enemy, so that we might fall into sin."
We are weak and we should never be overconfident regarding our spiritual state. We need to admit our weakness and dependence upon the Lord. If Jesus taught us to pray, "lead us not into temptation" that must mean that there are temptations which can be avoided if we pray in advance not to come into them.
We understand this a little better from a passage in Matthew 26:41, when Jesus and His disciples were in the Garden of Gethsemane. There Jesus told his disciples: Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."
Let us look at the context there: Jesus and the disciples were in the Garden of Gethsemane, where He was praying His last prayers before He would be arrested and crucified. His disciples were about to be tested - and they would all fail, and fall away.
Every time Jesus came back to check on them, He found them asleep again. They didn't watch and pray not to be led into temptation, and significantly, they did subsequently all fall into sin and fell away when crucial moments came.
I personally feel that it is not an overstatement to say that the spiritual battle of the disciples downfall was not lost when the soldiers came and they scattered; the battle was lost when they didn't pray. Peter's downfall in denying Jesus didn't just happen when he denied he knew Him before the servant girl. I feel Peter's downfall really came when he didn't pray. He did not do what Jesus told him to do: "watch and pray not to enter into temptation."
Just as we saw in the prayer regarding our physical needs (give us this day our daily bread) this prayer too is corporate in nature. Whether it be physical needs or spiritual needs we are not to forget our fellow beings. We are not merely to pray prayers of spiritual protection for ourselves, but also for others in our Christian community: for our spouse, for our children, for our parents, for our bishops, for our priests, for our deacons, for our evangelists, for others in our church, and for our church body as a whole. Prayers of spiritual protection for each of these should be a regular part of our personal intercession.
One of the biggest mistakes we can make is to neglect our duties to guard our loved ones in prayer, and wait for a crisis to come, and only then really begin to fervently pray. Remember Jesus tells us here to pray: "Lead us not into temptation" just like the old maxim: "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."
Dear friends, don't wait until there is a crisis in our family or church to pray. Pray beforehand that we might avoid a crisis in the first place. Jesus himself prayed in John 17:12 "While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled."
This Lenten Season let us be committed to pray every day just like Jesus taught us: "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."
May the Lord keep us safe and protected. God Bless You.
Probably no such place as Marco Polo describes ever existed. Nevertheless, what he relates is a parable which describes the temptation each and everyone face in our life at some time or the other.
We continue our study on the pattern of prayer given to us by Jesus. The verse for today's meditionation is
And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
Matthew 6:13
The Greek word for "temptation" here is the same one peirasmos that was used in Matthew 4 to relate how Jesus was led up to the wilderness to be "tempted" by the devil. So in simple terms this prayer is, "Lord, lead us not into a place where we will be tempted by the enemy, so that we might fall into sin."
We are weak and we should never be overconfident regarding our spiritual state. We need to admit our weakness and dependence upon the Lord. If Jesus taught us to pray, "lead us not into temptation" that must mean that there are temptations which can be avoided if we pray in advance not to come into them.
We understand this a little better from a passage in Matthew 26:41, when Jesus and His disciples were in the Garden of Gethsemane. There Jesus told his disciples: Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."
Let us look at the context there: Jesus and the disciples were in the Garden of Gethsemane, where He was praying His last prayers before He would be arrested and crucified. His disciples were about to be tested - and they would all fail, and fall away.
Every time Jesus came back to check on them, He found them asleep again. They didn't watch and pray not to be led into temptation, and significantly, they did subsequently all fall into sin and fell away when crucial moments came.
I personally feel that it is not an overstatement to say that the spiritual battle of the disciples downfall was not lost when the soldiers came and they scattered; the battle was lost when they didn't pray. Peter's downfall in denying Jesus didn't just happen when he denied he knew Him before the servant girl. I feel Peter's downfall really came when he didn't pray. He did not do what Jesus told him to do: "watch and pray not to enter into temptation."
Just as we saw in the prayer regarding our physical needs (give us this day our daily bread) this prayer too is corporate in nature. Whether it be physical needs or spiritual needs we are not to forget our fellow beings. We are not merely to pray prayers of spiritual protection for ourselves, but also for others in our Christian community: for our spouse, for our children, for our parents, for our bishops, for our priests, for our deacons, for our evangelists, for others in our church, and for our church body as a whole. Prayers of spiritual protection for each of these should be a regular part of our personal intercession.
One of the biggest mistakes we can make is to neglect our duties to guard our loved ones in prayer, and wait for a crisis to come, and only then really begin to fervently pray. Remember Jesus tells us here to pray: "Lead us not into temptation" just like the old maxim: "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."
Dear friends, don't wait until there is a crisis in our family or church to pray. Pray beforehand that we might avoid a crisis in the first place. Jesus himself prayed in John 17:12 "While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled."
This Lenten Season let us be committed to pray every day just like Jesus taught us: "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."
May the Lord keep us safe and protected. God Bless You.
Amen. Let my intercessory prayers be for everyone.
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