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Sixth Petition:

“

Lead Us Not into Temptation”

Temptation is an invitation to sin. The source of the temptation may be the attractive, sinful conduct of other people, called the world; or the disorderly desires of our own fallen nature called concupiscence; or the malicious urging of the evil spirit, whom we call the devil.

When we pray not to be led into temptation, we are not asking to be freed from the testing of all human beings to prove their loyalty to God. Temptation as a test of our fidelity to Him is part of our probation here on earth, and the price of earning our reward in the world to come.

What we are praying for is not to allow ourselves to give in to temptation, but rather to profit from the temptation experience. The saintly interpreters of the Lord’s Prayer give no less than nine ways that we should protect ourselves from yielding to temptation and should profit from the inevitable temptations in our lives. Our prayer in this petition will be answered to the extent that we follow these rules of Christian wisdom:

Be on guard against the evil spirit. Know his strategy, be able to recognize his deceits and above all, “resist him, steadfast in the faith” (I Peter 5:9).
Daily examine your conscience to see how well you coped with the temptations of each day. Thank God for the grace of benefiting from the temptations you overcame, and ask His forgiveness for those to which you gave in.
Periodically, during the day, look into the “book of your soul.” Read there what thoughts are on your mind, what desires in your will. Sift these interior movements by discarding some, keeping others, and acting on those which your conscience tells you are graces from God.
Be suspicious of your natural tendency to go after whatever appeals to you. Avoid being impulsive in rejecting what you dislike, or embracing what you like. All temptations are attractive. Learn to practice discernment of spirits as explained by the masters of the spiritual life.
Remember that we are now living by faith, which means that of ourselves we may not even recognize a temptation. Thus we must constantly ask for light from God: “Lord, that I may see.”
Life on earth is a warfare and we are members of the Church Militant. We must, therefore, be properly armed with humility and prudence, and the graces that come for the asking. Christ’s admonition to the disciples in Gethsemane is addressed to all of us, “Watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation” (Matthew 26:41).
Be on the alert. We can get into habits of action that may dull our perception. Custom can blind us to danger and keep us from even knowing we are being tempted. We may give in before we even realize what has happened.
Set yourself models for imitation. Do not follow the crowd. Come to know certain persons whose conduct you admire and whose example you resolve to follow. It may be several people. In one you imitate the person’s humility, in another fidelity to prayer, in another selfless charity, in another uncomplaining patience, in another cheerfulness under trial, in another prudent planning of work, in another devotion to the Eucharist, in another a great love of Mary, and in another a strong zeal for souls. In this way, we have a ready substitute for the temptations from the world – the attractive sinful behavior of others. We have, instead, the inspiration of good people in the world – their attractive practice of virtue.
Do not live in false security. Cultivate a healthy fear of offending a loving God. This will give you the protection you need to remain faithful to Him no matter how seductive the temptations you encounter.

Seventh Petition:

“

Deliver Us from Evil. Amen”

Table of Contents

The closing petition of the Lord’s Prayer is a compendium of everything from which we want God to deliver us, in this life and in the life to come.

St. Cyprian, who wrote the first extensive commentary on the Pater Noster, teaches that we are here praying to be freed from the consequences of sin. The Church follows this teaching, which places our dread of evil into proper perspective.

So far, in the Our Father, we have prayed for God’s mercy on our sins, for strength to do God’s will, for wisdom not to give into temptations. In closing, we ask to be spared such evils as are the result of sin, our own and the sins of others.

Evil, in general, is anything contrary to the will. But there are two kinds of evil, even as there are, finally, two wills that can be displeased. That which is contrary to God’s will we call sin. That which is contrary to the human will we call pain.

The special focus of the last petition of the Lord’s Prayer is to be delivered from pain. But, immediately we must be careful to explain what this means. While ultimately all pain is somehow the result of sin, not all pain is bad for us. Indeed some pain is even necessary for the salvation and sanctification of the world.

When God became man, He had joy set before Him and chose the Cross. If we are to become like Him and cooperate with Him in the redemption of the world, we should expect and even embrace a certain amount of pain in or lives.

Yet in the final petition of His own prayer, Christ tells us to ask for deliverance from evil. What kind of evil, as pain, are we praying to be spared? Pain is whatever contradicts our wills. It can be pain in the body, or pain in the soul. It can be physical distress or emotional disturbance, or spiritual dryness, or mental anxiety. In a word, the pain can be anything, inside of us or outside of us, that we find displeasing and want to be freed from enduring.

Realizing that pain can be a great blessing, we pray to be delivered from such pain as God, in His wisdom knows would not be beneficial for our souls. We also pray to profit from the pain we have to suffer. We pray that the pain we endure will benefit others. And we pray for deliverance from that absolute evil which is the eternal loss of God.

“Amen” is considered part of the biblical text of the Lord’s Prayer. It is in the Latin Vulgate of the New Testament and has been extensively commented on by the saints.

Literally “Amen” means, “truly,” or “it is true,” and expresses acceptance of what has just been said. At the end of the Our Father it is an earnest hope that God will grant all our preceding petitions. It is an act of confidence that the Father is moved by this “Amen,” which Jesus so often used to stress the divine authority of His words.