HOW TO PRAY (PART 6)

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’”

Matthew 6:9-13

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The fruit on the tree had to look oh so delicious.

Adam had been placed in the Garden of Eden and God had tasked him with tending to it, free to eat of anything except for the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. If Adam disobeyed God, he would die. That was the deal.

And yet, that fruit looked so good, despite having more food than he and Eve could ever ask for elsewhere in the garden. It is obvious that Adam and Eve had an inner desire to eat of the forbidden tree even though they were ordered not to. We know because it didn’t take much convincing from the evil serpent to get them to act on their attraction and condemn all mankind to sin as a result (Genesis 3).

That’s right, the fall of mankind at Eden originated from temptation and the continued failing and falling of men and women into sinfulness and wickedness continue to originate there. Satan has carried on his skillful playing of people’s desires that are counter to the Lord’s, turning them toward places where they find destruction and shame and guilt.

This is why Jesus made the matter of temptation a component of the Lord’s Prayer and perhaps if we would all pray this prayer He prescribed more often, then we would find ourselves entrapped by temptation and the evil one less.

Here’s what Jesus adds to conclude the prayer as we finish up the final devotion in this series:

“This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.’”

“’And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’” Matthew 6:9-13

  

As we read these words, it’s important to remember that God is not tempting us. The scriptures tell us as much:

When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. James 1:13-15

The word of God is clear. We are tempted when we allow the evil desires of our flesh to take over and entice us. At the heart of this leading is Satan, the evil one, because God would only lead us toward goodness and does so when we allow Him. Here’s some of the evil desires of the flesh we could fall into:

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. Galatians 5:19-21

It’s the who’s who list of transgressions, transgressions that cause separation from the Lord who cannot possibly be in partnership with us in the midst of sin. That would be against His nature.

And so how do we avoid getting ourselves into these acts of the flesh?

We pray as Jesus told us to pray and ask our heavenly, holy Father to:

“’Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’”

You see, when we ask God to lead us, we can be assured He will not lead us into temptation. Rather, He will lead our lives on the path of righteousness, effectively delivering us from the evil one. After all, God is in the righteousness and deliverance business, right? The scriptures affirm this truth over and over and over again. If you want to avoid slipping into the pit of iniquity, hold onto the hand of the Father who will steer you clear of it.

With this, we conclude this devotional series on the Lord’s Prayer which consists of a series of petitions to God, the heavenly and hallowed Father of us all. Within the prayer we ask for:

- His kingdom to come to earth as it is in heaven.

- for His will to be done.

- to provide for us our daily bread, a plea to physical and spiritual nourishment.

- for forgiveness as we have forgiven others.

- to lead us away from temptation and Satan, the evil one.

Jesus tells us that this is how we are to pray. All we need to do is be obedient to His command.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com