God, indeed, tempts no one to sin; but we pray in this petition that God would so guard and preserve us, that the devil, the world, and our own flesh may not deceive us, nor lead us into error and unbelief, despair, and other great and shameful sins; and that, though we may be thus tempted, we may nevertheless finally prevail and gain the victory.
As children of God we must not only seek forgiveness for past sins, but be anxious to avoid sin in the future. We therefore pray that, as far as is possible according to His gracious will, God would keep us from being tempted, and would give us strength to overcome when we are tempted.
If we are in earnest in praying this Petition, we will not run into temptation ourselves, [Matt. 4:7] nor lead others into it.
HOW WE ARE TEMPTED.
GOD INDEED TEMPTS NO ONE TO SIN: for He wishes us to do good, and not evil. But He leads us into circumstances in which we are tried, and must decide for or against Him, for good or for evil. This is the sense in which the Bible speaks of God as tempting persons. [Gen. 22:1] He tries or tests us. Remembering that we are weak, we pray in this petition that God would spare us such trials as much as is possible according to His will, and strengthen us in them, that we may be faithful.
The Devil, the World, and our own Flesh tempt us to Sin. These are the great enemies of our souls, who will lead us to destruction if we do not earnestly resist them and repel their temptations.
WHAT WE PRAY.
1. That we may not be Deceived or Misled by these Enemies.
WE PRAY IN THIS PETITION THAT GOD WOULD SO GUARD AND PRESERVE US, THAT
THE DEVIL, who puts evil thoughts into our hearts, [Gen. 3:4, 5, II Cor. 11:3]