The Lord's Prayer Part 7 – We Are Not As Strong As We Think We Are - New Evangelizers

“And lead us not into temptation…”

 This may seem like a strange request of Our Father in Heaven.  After all, He is not the tempter.  Satan is the one who tempts us to damnation.  So why do we ask Him to not lead us into temptation.

 I think a clarification is necessary here.  Liturgically, we use the phrase “lead us not into temptation.”  But if you go to your Bible and if it has as a good translation, like the New American Bible, it will say instead “do not subject us to the final test.”  (Matt 6:13)

 What is this final test? 

 In all likelihood, the Jewish people of the time expected a series of cataclysms that would befall humanity at the same time as the coming of the Messiah.  This appears to be a prayer to be spared such catastrophes.  But there is also another way to look at it in keeping with the liturgical translation.

 None of us can fully escape temptation in this world.  No matter what vice we harbor, there are instigations and opportunities at every turn to give in to these elements of our darker nature.  We are sometimes beset on all sides.

 You understand that strange phenomenon on Friday’s in Lent when it seems like everyone else is enjoying steak and ribs but you.  Or perhaps you struggle with your anger and that co-worker who annoys you cleared their throat for the hundredth time, even though you asked them not to.  Or maybe you struggle with chastity even when you go to Church, the summer outfits of the parishioner’s draw your eye and spark unwholesome thoughts.

 If you are someone who cannot relate to the above, then this article is not for you.  I am a weak, sinful man speaking to other weak and sinful people. 

 And when we ask God to “Lead us not into temptation” or to “not subject us to the test,” we are also asking God to spare us from temptation. 

 To be clear, temptation itself is not a sin.  Christ Himself was tempted in the desert before He began preaching.  We may have unnatural appetites to excess of good things like food and pleasure or appetites to bad things like envy and lust.  But the appetite itself is not a sin.  You may feel a strong urge towards something you know you should not do.  Feeling the urge does not make you sinful, even though Satan whispers in your ear that you are no good because you desire these things.  I believe this is the case for those who struggle with pornography.  Engaging with pornography is a sin.  But when the person struggles against it, even in the struggle they feel dirty and shameful as if they were engaged in the sin already.

 Those appetites for sinful things are not the sins themselves.  However, that does not mean that they are tolerable or good in the soul.  Every effort should be made to remove those appetites.  If I struggle with an appetite for gossip, I must cease the sin of gossip.  But I must also through inward prayer and mental exercise work to remove the desire for gossip.  For many of us, this is the spiritual work of a lifetime and may only be complete in the cleansing fires of Purgatory.

 But those bad appetites in the soul can be removed.  How do we do it?

 Please allow me to paraphrase a story a wise person once told me:  There was a young warrior who went to the head of his clan.  The young warrior was in turmoil.  He told his leader that tried to be virtuous but he would fall into sin.  The leader told him that he was in turmoil because inside of the young warrior’s spirit were two wolves fighting for control.  One wolf was noble, brave, kind, and virtuous.  The other wolf was base, cowardly, cruel, and vicious.  The young warrior asked his leader which one would win out.  The leader said to him, “Whichever one you feed.”

 Oscar Wilde once flippantly said that the only way to get rid of temptation is to give in to it.  He was, of course wrong.  His own life story is testimony to this.  When we give in to our temptation, they become stronger.  The words of Christ echo here when He said “he who commits sin is a slave to sin.” (John 8:34)  He was not talking about external slavery, but internal slavery.  Look at the world and tell me I am wrong.  We encourage people to give in lust.  Are we less lustful?  We encourage people to pursue every material possession they desire?  Are we satisfied with our things?  Or do these desires simply grow?

 So it is clear that we must starve our temptations in order to weaken the chains on our souls.  But as we said, temptation is all around.  How do we fight these temptations when there is danger around every corner?

 That is why we beg Our Father for help.  We cannot flee the world.  We are called to be part of it, not sheltered away from it.  And living in this world does hold great spiritual dangers.  So we ask God to help us.  This, above all, is an acknowledgement that I am not ready to face temptation on my own.  So many of our great stories are filled with heroes who cause great calamities because they think themselves stronger than they actually are.  But even the greatest of heroes can fall.

 Look at David.  He was God’s chosen king, a man after God’s own heart.  But once he gave into temptation towards his lust for Bathsheba, it set him on a path to destruction and ruin.  David would have been happier if he avoided the temptation all together.

 God does allow temptation to come our way because in resisting temptation we become spiritually stronger.  We learn to fight and hopefully become seasoned veterans of spiritual combat.  But the moment that we say to ourselves, “I can handle any temptation that comes my way,” we are lost.  Because we will fail.  And that failure is due to the fact that we are not as strong as we think we are.

 In the version of the Act of Contrition that I learned as a child, it says that we will “avoid the near occasions of sin.”  If we know we are going to be tempted in certain places or in certain company, we must make a strategy to change.  When I started teaching, I found that I was incredibly prone to gossiping with other teachers at the lunch table.  I tried to moderate my behavior, but to no avail.  For me, I had to take the extreme path of not eating lunch with any of my colleagues.  The fault is not their but mine.  I admit, this choice isn’t for everyone.  But it is what I needed to avoid temptation.  Perhaps for you, temptation to envy hits you when you watch The Real Housewives of East Akron or whatever.  Perhaps you should switch your viewing habits.

 Some of you might think this a bit extreme.  And perhaps it is.  But if I need to starve the wicked appetites of my soul, I must do what is required.  Like I said, I am a weak man who is not yet strong in temptation.  But Christ can make me strong.  Remember Paul said, “In my weakness, I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:10)  If I think I am strong, then I forget how much I need God to protect me.  But if I acknowledge my weakness, then I call upon the Lord who will fight for me and see me through every temptation. 

 Because even though I am not as strong as I think I am, God is stronger than me.

Copyright 2016, W.L. Grayson

W.L. Grayson

I am a devoutly Catholic theology teacher who loves a popular culture that often, quite frankly, hates me. I grew up absorbing every movie, TV show, comic book, science fiction novel, etc. I could find. As of today I’ve watched over 2100 movies and tv shows. They take up a huge part of my life. I don’t know that this is a good thing, but it has given me a common vocabulary to draw from in order to illustrate whatever theological point I make in class. I’ve used American Pie the song to explain the Book of Revelation (I’ll post on this some time later) and American Pie the movie to help explain Eucharist (don’t ask). The point is that the popular culture is popular for a reason. It is woven into the fabric of our lives and imaginations, for good or ill. In this blog I will attempt to bring together the things of heaven with the things of earth. Of course this goal may be too lofty for someone like me.