AND LEAD US NOT UNTO TEMPTATION

Temptation means testing. If it were not for sin, there would be no temptation. Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed; desire gives birth to sin and sin brings forth death, as the Apostle James says. There are also cases of temptation and testing that are purely God's will, but these are for strong souls only, for their glory and as an example to others. In this way God has tested Abraham's faith, Joseph's wisdom, Job's endurance. And they all passed the test successfully. We, on the other hand, feel weak and pray to God not to test us, either by indulging us or by His own will, for we are bound to fall, and fail. As soon as earthly desires and aspirations are conceived in humans, they lose their vision of the Heavenly Father and lapse into a desperate and ruinous selfishness; they start to put their name above the Lord's, they ask for earthly kingdoms instead of the heavenly one, their will takes the place of God's will, our daily bread becomes their personal bread, they ask God for mercy while remaining merciless to the very end towards their debtors. By analogy, a whole social system starts rocking like a building from a constant earthquake. Save us, O God, from all these temptations! And lead us not into temptation means, in a positive sense; save us from temptation, or: save us from ourselves.

This prayer is crucial to the upkeep of a well-organized society. By saying it, people admit their helplessness to hold on to the good things they ask God for in the previous supplications. Even if God does give them all they asked for, they fear abusing and corrupting it, because of their helplessness. Be watchful and pray, said Christ in another instance, lest you fall into temptation. When the sons of the heavenly Father establish a society according to their wishes, they must keep a constant vigil lest they become proud and credit themselves with all that is God-given, they must pray incessantly, to the heavenly Father that He does not take His gifts away, or lessen them.