Does God tempt us and try us?

"And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil."
And God leadeth us not into temptation but delivereth us from sin, disease, and death.

This verse of the Lord's Prayer specifically challenges the old theology that says God is vengeful, capricious; that He throws hurdles - trials - at us to tempt us and test us.

Think how often God is mistakenly portrayed this way in popular theology - not only during Jesus' time, but even in our own! People still hear (and fear) "If you do [fill in the blank] God will punish you!"

But in this verse of the Lord's Prayer Jesus says NO to this way of thinking.

His entire prayer is a radical departure from such a view of God. In Jesus' view, God is "Our Father." And Jesus shows us our Father's name and nature are to be hallowed - adored - because our Father is Good. His all-harmonious kingdom is one you want to be in. You want God's will to be done right here where you are just as it is in Heaven. Why? because His will for you is good! How do we know? Listen to Jesus:

"...what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?"

And what does God give you?

Your daily bread. Your daily communion with Him. Your daily experience of Him.

And His presence shows you your forgiveness as you forgive others. His Love and forgiveness for you is reflected in your love and forgiveness of your neighbor.

And He leads you - not into temptation - but always delivers you from everything that would tempt you or try to separate you from Him: sin, disease, and even death.

Why? Because that's what happens when you open yourself to the kingdom, the presence, of God. That's what happens when invite His will to be yours. And His is the glory that envelopes you. Here. Now.

And God never leads you into trials or temptation but always delivers you into His presence, His care and authority, His Allness, His glorious Love.

Temptation and desire ...and prayer

"And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."
And God leadeth us not into temptation, but delivereth us from sin, disease, and death.

"Our Master said, 'After this manner pray ye' and then he gave that prayer which covers all human needs." That prayer is the Lord's Prayer.

What Jesus is telling us is, after this manner therefore express your desires. Put your deepest yearning into these words. Phrase your honest needs this way.

Your yearning, your desires, are a form of prayer itself, probably the most honest form of prayer. And the answer to your every prayer is found here in the meaning -the spirit - of the Lord's Prayer.

Mrs. Eddy wrote: "Thoughts unspoken are not unknown to the divine Mind. Desire is prayer; and no loss can occur from trusting God with our desires, that they may be moulded and exalted before they take form in words and in deeds."

Does that mean you can trust only your holiest desires to God? Or does it also mean you can actually trust all of your desires, all of your genuine honest heartfelt, soul-felt and yes, body-felt, desires to God? Yes, it does.

Mrs. Eddy makes another astute observation: "Honesty is spiritual power. Dishonesty is human weakness, which forfeits divine help." She also writes: "We should examine ourselves and learn what is the affection and purpose of the heart, for in this way only can we learn what we honestly are."

The best place to start your prayer is by examining - and honestly acknowledging - your real desires. Not the desires you think you should have. Not the ones that other people think are good for you. Not the ones society as a whole preaches about. But yours. What you feel deeply and sincerely - good, bad, or indifferent!

And oh everyone - including you - is "praying" this way all the time! It's just that most people never realize that what they're cherising in their heart, what they're desiring, what they're focusing on, is actually a prayer.

And what everyone - including you - usually forget to do, is to actually trust God with those desires. Instead, you trust your desire to the ego's self-indulgence! And then your prayer gets answered with busyness instead of Life, entertainment instead of Truth, part-time pleasures instead of Love - fantasy instead of Reality!

But that's OK. Everyone does it. Just pay more attention. Don't let the ego's little temptations lead you down its deadend roads. Instead, be aware of what you are honestly desiring in your heart. Notice it. Bring it out into the open. Don't be afraid of it. NEVER be afraid to be completely honest with yourself about your heart's true feelings! and NEVER be afraid to completely trust those feelings, those desires, those deep deep yearnings to your Father-Mother God.

And God never leads us into tempation, but always delivers us into holiness, and wholeness, and Life!

Love leads and delivers you

"And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."
And God leadeth us, not into temptation, but delivereth us from sin, disease, and death.

God is Love. How amazingly grateful you can be that God is, in fact, Love. Jesus lived this Truth throughout his blessed life, delivering everyone he encountered from sin, disease, and death. As Love's true reflection, he taught us the power of Love to lead us, and to deliver us from evil.

God never leads you into trials or temptations, because that is not the nature of Love. Love doesn't put you into impossible situations, doesn't throw you to the wolves of temptation, doesn't smite you with sickness or disease, never ever leads you into death - or even to think that death is a way to reach Him.

God is always with you. The way may be rugged. It may be difficult and fraught with tasks and even dangers that you don't think you can handle. Mrs. Eddy even says the way "is not reached through paths of flowers." But God, Love never leaves you. That rugged way is a way of demonstration. It is a way you are called on to walk because you are actually capable of walking it. It is a way that causes you to learn and to exercise your true purpose as His child, His image and likeness, His reflection.

Jesus is your example, the example for the whole world. He worked as God worked. He never shyed away from a challenge but met it with power. He refreshed himself in prayer and then went to work, Divine Love motivating every thought and act, God-being-in-action.

And this is what you are called on to do as his follower. Don't run away - demonstrate! Demonstrate your way through the challenges, the trials, the tempations that you encounter. You encounter them because you are capable of meeting them. You may not think you're able to bear the challenge, but God can. And He is right with you right now. Lean on God. You're winning the prize of spiritual growth and a tangible awareness of your closeness to Him. Hear His intuitive guidance, His (sometimes outloud) Word: "This is the way; walk ye in it."

You are rising to exercise your true being, breaking through the limited way you've always seen yourself, revealing your purpose, living Love out loud.

As the old hymn says:

Father, hear the prayer we offer;;
not for ease that prayer shall be,
But for strength, that we may ever
Live our lives courageously.

Not forever in green pastures
Do we ask our way to be,
But the steep and rugged pathway
May we tread rejoicingly.

Not forever by still waters
Would we idly quiet stay,
But would smite the living fountains
From the rocks along our way.


God, divine Love itself, already leads you, and always delivers you.