The Lord’s Prayer · piece 21 of 26
The Sixth Request
From Luther’s Small Catechism, 1529
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And lead us not into temptation. (Matthew 6:13)
What does this mean?
God tempts no one, of course, but we pray in this request that God will protect us and save us, so that the Devil, the world and our bodily desires will neither deceive us nor seduce us into heresy, despair or other serious shame or vice, and so that we will win and be victorious in the end, even if they attack us.
In plain words
God does not tempt anyone to sin. In this prayer you ask God to protect you from the devil, the world, and your own wrong desires. You ask that they not trick you into false beliefs, into giving up hope, or into serious wrongdoing. When they do attack you, you ask God to help you win in the end.
Our summary of Luther’s explanation, for reading after his words, not instead of them.
Where Jesus says it
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Matthew 26:41 Jesus tells his disciples to stay awake and pray so they do not fall into temptation.
Read Matthew 26:41
41 Watch and pray, that you don’t enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
World English Bible, public domain. The whole chapter on Free Scripture → · Read in the NRSVue, the ELCA’s standard translation →
Translated by Robert E. Smith for Project Wittenberg (revised 2004) and placed in the public domain by the translator. How we checked it, and the whole Catechism on one page