Those of us that have been through Confirmation, or Catechism classes may remember the words defining “lead us not into temptation” from the Lord’s Prayer. The catechism defines this phrase, “we pray that the Devil, the World, and our sinful nature may not deceive us or lead us astray….”
In the next three days I’ll discuss these three enemies. First the devil.
We read about the devil and his deceit many places in the Bible, including the temptation of Jesus in the desert in Matthew 4. The devil is a crafty supernatural being described as the “ruler of this world” in Ephesians 2:2. He is like “a roaring lion seeking whom he can devour” in 1 Peter 5:8. We can only imagine how effectively he can manipulate our thoughts and perceptions with thousands of years of experience. 1 John 5:19 writes, “We know that we are children of God and all the rest of the world around us is under satan’s power and control”
But in 1 John 5:18 writes, “No one who has become a part of God’s family makes a practice of sinning, for Christ, God’s son, holds him securely and the devil cannot get his hands on him.” TLB
Although the devil may be stronger than us on our own, he is nothing compared to us with Christ. Our Faith in Jesus’ power and love is what protects us from this enemy.
Dear Lord, as we pray in the Lord’s prayer, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. When we feel “the tempter” working on us, help us have faith in you to protect us and those we love from the devil’s ways. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
John, someone told me “When you are reading the Bible, the devil is looking over your shoulder”. Also, think the devil knows how to tempt you without out you even realizing he’s the one behind the act. There is a great section about the devil in the ALPHA course.
Christi, Thanks for the comment! Very interesting way to think about it. I believe there is alot going on that we are not aware of. As it says in Ephesians 6, “our struggle is against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly relms.” Thankfully we do not have to fear because we have Christ with us. Hoping to get through the ALPHA course some point.