God’s Pathway Matthew 6:13

And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.



The King James says, “Lead us not.” God does not lead us to temptation; He does lead us from temptation and prayer is one of the ways that God is able to do that. One of the reasons that God gives us the instructions that He gives us in His Word is this very issue. In order to lead us away from temptation and deliver us from evil, God has given us instructions to help us avoid those pitfalls.

When you and I fail to follow God’s Word and those instructions, we are subject to falling into temptation. So as Jesus teaches us to pray that God would lead us from temptation, He is in effect causing us to think about our relationship to the Lord and His instructions for us and this gives us the encouragement we need to follow God and His instructions for us for the moment. In fact, it is virtually impossible to sin against God while we are in an attitude of prayer in the first place!

There is another aspect that prayer lends itself to and that is as God leads we are to follow. Leadership is God’s responsibility and following is our responsibility. As we follow God’s leadership, we avoid temptation and God Himself delivers us from the evil one. As you and I follow the Lord’s leadership we benefit tremendously in so many areas and deliverance is one of those areas that Jesus highlights for us here.

Following God is always to our benefit. God’s pathway is always the way that you and I need to go. The benefits of following God are always worth the effort!