Does God lead us into temptation?

Answer:

"And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen" (Matthew 6:13).

This part of Jesus' sample prayer deals with God's promised protection of His people. "The LORD will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. The LORD will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever" (Psalms 121:7-8). God delivers us from evil and keeps us from situations that might prove too much for us to handle (I Corinthians 10:13). "And if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men  (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds), then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment" (II Peter 2:7-9).

It is appropriate to petition God to fulfill His promises, including protection from evil and temptation. When the disciples fell asleep while watching in the garden, Jesus "came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, 'So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour? Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak'" (Matthew 26:40-41).

This protection doesn't mean that we will never face evil or never be tempted. Jesus was tempted, and we are told that we will be tempted as well. However, it is worth knowing that when we feel overwhelmed, we can ask God for help in overcoming those temptations, and He will answer (I John 5:14-15).

The English words "tempt" and "trial" are used to translate a single Greek word. God is not the source of temptations (James 1:13), but He does allow us to face trials to improve us. Christians "are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time" (I Peter 1:5). But right after saying this, Peter tells us to rejoice in our trials. "In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls" (I Peter 1:6-9). Faith needs to be tested and proven so that it can grow. Still, we are to pray that God doesn't lead us toward trials that are too difficult.

When people insist on sinning, God allows them to be led further away from Him.

• "Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them" (Romans 1:24).
• "For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions" (Romans 1:26).
• "And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper" (Romans 1:28).
• "For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness" (II Thessalonians 2:11-12).

We pray that God doesn't see us among those who have turned their backs on God. We don't want to be led into temptations like they are. We want to be delivered from evil.