Questions for Covenant Groups: Lead Us Not Into Temptation but Deliver Us From Evil

Below are the questions for Covenant Groups for the week of November 17, 2013.


There were three other passages that we looked at to help us understand what was meant when Jesus taught us to pray, "Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil".

1. Genesis 22:1 (and following) and the story for Abraham's faith being "tested".
2. Matthew 4:1 (and following) and Jesus being led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be "tempted" by Satan.
3. Matthew 26:39 and Jesus' prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane to "let this cup be taken from me".

Which if any of these passages was helpful for you in understanding this prayer? How did it help your understanding?

Was there anything new or enlightening about understanding the language behind the word "peirazo" (Greek for temptation)?  Is it helpful to think that we might also understand that question as "Don't put us to the test"?

If we know that God does not seek to seduce us into situations where we will be led into sin, but rather allows us to be tempted and put to the test when it is for our own good, then how does that shape the way that we ought to pray when we face "trails of many kinds"?

Is it any consolation to you to know that while God may allow you to be put to the test, we have the reassurance that he will be there with us through it all and he will give us what we need to find victory through him?  If so, how might you both pray and act the next time that you face difficult circumstances?

How has the study of this prayer shaped the way you understand prayer in general?

Share one thing, if you can, that you have really learned or appreciated from this particular study that has changed the way you see things or the way you pray or the way you live in relation to God.