The Lord’s Prayer

Lead us not into temp- tation

God does not tempt us!  James. The brother of Jesus, writes:  “God indeed tempts no one, but each person is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own evil desires.” James 1:13-14

Besides our own sinful desires,  We are tempted by:  Satan (the devil)  Peter writes, “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 2:8).

And, by the  people around us.  (That’s what John means when he writes “don’t love the world” --- not the beauties of nature, but the attitudes of people who do not know God.)  The passage is on the next slide:

John writes,  Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. (1 John 2:15-17)

God will provide a way out  Paul writes, And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:13)  So Luther explains …

What does this mean? (Luther)  God tempts no one. We pray ithat God would guard us so that the devil, the world, and our sinful nature may not pull us into false belief, despair, and other great problems. Although we are attacked by these things, we pray that we may finally overcome them and win the victory.

There’s a war on  It’s called  SPIRITUAL WARFARE

Peter tells us…  that there are “fleshly lusts that WAR against your soul.”  1 Peter 2:11

Paul tells us … Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against … the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:11-12)

By saying “flesh and blood”  We mean our enemy is NOT other _____,  But a spiritual, unseen enemy.  We call him ______.  Check answer on next slide

Our enemy …  Is NOT other PEOPLE  But a spiritual, unseen enemy.  We call him SATAN.  The word “satan” means “accuser.” He is God’s opponent, but he can’t hurt God directly. When he attacks us, he is trying to ruin God’s plan for His world.

That’s why Jesus came:  John writes,  “The Son of Man has come to destroy the works of the Devil.” 1 John 3:8  (Devil, the other name for Satan, means “liar.”)

and we have weapons.  Paul writes,  The weapons of our warfare are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. (2 Corinthians 10:4.)  What might those weapons be? What would “weapons of the world” be? Discuss before going to next slide.

Next week  We’ll go into these weapons in detail.  Have a great week!