The final petition of the Lord’s Prayer concerns prayer for God’s protection. We are instructed to pray for the prevention of temptation and for the protection from evil.
The word temptation has a double sense. The English word temptation is usually defined as the “seduction to evil.” But the Greek word is neutral and is translated in many ways:
• test
• trial
• prove
• temptation
So when we encounter the word temptation in the New Testament, we need to view the word in its context so we can understand whether the Bible is talking about seductions to evil or trials that we encounter.
Anytime there is a trial or test in the Bible there is the possibility of passing or failing. So when God brings a test, there is the possibility that the trial can be turned into a temptation. So the implication of the request is this. “Lord, don’t lead us into a trial that will present to us a temptation such that we will not be able to resist it.”
We are to pray to be spared from trials. But if trials come, we are to further pray that we will be protected in the trial so that we can find growth through it.
