In this episode of Year on the Mountaintop, we reach the final petition of the Lord’s Prayer: “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” After praying for God’s name to be hallowed, God’s kingdom to come, God’s will to be done, daily bread to be provided, and forgiveness to be received and extended, Jesus teaches us to pray for protection. This final petition recognizes the reality of temptation and asks God to shelter us when the trials and pressures of life threaten to pull us away from the way of love.

What does Jesus mean when he tells us to pray, “Lead us not into temptation”? This session explores the relationship between trials, temptation, sin, spiritual growth, and sanctification, including Jesus’ teaching, Paul’s promise in 1 Corinthians, the story of Cain and Abel, and John Newton’s reflections on how God answers prayers for spiritual growth. Rather than viewing ourselves as helpless sinners or imagining God as a distant judge waiting for us to fail, we’ll consider temptation as an invitation to trust God’s strength and discover that the kingdom of God offers something better than the things that seek to control us. The final petition of the Lord’s Prayer becomes a prayer not simply to escape difficulty, but to be delivered from evil and formed into people who embody God’s grace, love, and kingdom community.