The Lord’s Prayer: Lead Us Not Into Temptation

In this line of the Lord’s prayer, we are admitting that we alone cannot withstand the pressures of this world. We need God’s help in steering us towards His kingdom, for we are surrounded and overwhelmed by the pulls and desires of the world. We ask because we are committing ourselves to living in His kingdom, but we sure cannot follow Jesus there without a whole lot of help.

In fact, we are too close to ourselves to even see what we need to do next. We are dependent on God’s grace and leadings to stay committed to God. We cannot heal ourselves, although we can desire that healing. We cannot, because we are too close to our own ways of thinking and being to let go of things/attitudes/structures that have been important to us—our ways of being in the world, our hurts and sufferings, our dependencies on others or on drugs or alcohol or other crutches, even all that we have been taught in the world.

Only God can heal us and free us from all these structures of dependency to the world’s ways. It’s a matter of cleaning the lenses through which we look at life. God will erase our dependencies, as we pray for healing, on everyone and everything but Him, so that we can finally just turn to God in every aspect of our lives, throughout our days, and just be committed totally to Him.

The freedom that God brings in His healings will resound in our hearts and minds as we enjoy the lack of bondage that previously characterized our lives. We hadn’t realized how dependent we were on the world’s ways, how we left it to the world to define who we are and what we should be doing and how we were to do that. What God provides us with comes from our depths and our creation, as He determined each of us should be when He created each of us. His healings bring joy as we connect with our deeper selves and their interests and priorities. We gain a deep sense of fulfillment and joy as we follow His lead in our lives, as He connects us to our purpose.  We find solace in giving back to others what we have learned through our own pain and suffering, after God has healed it. Often our purpose lies, at least partially, in helping others go through the same things that we had to experience. Who can be of more help than those who have been there, done that and been healed of it all?

It’s not that we will never stray once we commit our lives to God—we’re still human beings, after all–but that He will always be there to help us back on track, once we realize our mistake. Thanks be to God!

______________________

Questions to ponder over the week: Do I turn over to God in prayer each and every resistance to His ways, our pain and suffering, anything that stands between me and God? Do I lean on Him for support and guidance in all my challenges? In all areas of my life? How faithful am I to His will, His ways?

Blessing for the week: May we be the people of God who give over all our challenges to Him to heal and to transform. May we faithfully follow Him and His vision for us in all that we do.

See more blog posts and offerings at patsaidadams.com.

Check out my other website, deepeningyourfaith.com, for information about spiritual practices and more writings about the spiritual life. New posts every month. 9.13.21s is entitled “Hear The Still Small Voice of God.” Sign up to receive these as monthly emails at the website.