Tuesday 28th May
Read Matthew 6:9-13
“This, then, is how you should pray:
‘“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.” (NIVUK)
Much ink has been spilt seeking to explain the last petition in the prayer. The concern of many is the simple observation that God does not tempt anyone (James 1:13), so the request is redundant. Clever thinkers have wrestled the meaning into knots to escape the seeming contradiction, yet the explanation may lie in the phrase itself. The phrase ‘not into temptation’ is, in common parlance, a double negative. As a common idiom, Jesus may be teaching us to pray that we be ‘led into righteousness’. A worthy petition for those who ‘hunger and thirst for righteousness’ (Matthew 5:6). As Psalm 23 states, He leads us in paths of righteousness…
