I must honestly say that this part of the model prayer has baffled me. If we know that God would never lead us into temptation, why does Jesus instruct us to pray such a prayer? I think this instruction is best understood against the background of Jesus’ most monumental moment of prayer: in the Garden of Gethsemane.

During Jesus’ most difficult moment, Jesus taught the disciples: watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Jesus understood human nature better than we ever will. When he became one of us, he robed himself in human flesh. The writer of Hebrews sheds light on Jesus as God and man.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

hebrews 4:15, esv

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus faced the ultimate temptation: follow through with the very reason God had sent him and feel something he had never felt before: separation from the Father. Or follow his own will. He faced the dichotomy of a willing spirit and a weak flesh.

We know the Lord’s Prayer is meant to be prayed daily (give us this day our daily bread). Temptation then, is a daily reality. We are never free from its allure. Our flesh is always weak. When Christ comes to live in us, our spirit is always willing. To pray daily lead me not into temptation is to imitate the greatest battle ever fought on the battleground of prayer: not my will but yours be done.

Where are you most tempted? What area of sin most easily trips you up? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation! Don’t ever be lulled into the false sense of security that your struggle has passed, your flesh has strengthened! Only when you are in the presence of God in unhindered worship will the allure of temptation become a forgotten reality.