Humble Prayer Looks Entirely to God’s Mercy

Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!

Psalm 115:1^ESV

This morning we will continue to study Westminster Larger Catechism Question 195, which asks, “What do we pray for in the sixth petition?” The third part of the answer states: “In the sixth petition (which is, And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,) acknowledging… that we, even after the pardon of our sins, by reason of our corruption, weakness, and want of watchfulness, are not only subject to be tempted, and forward to expose ourselves unto temptations, but also of ourselves unable and unwilling to resist them, to recover out of them, and to improve them; and worthy to be left under the power of them… .”  Last time we saw how a triad of enemies: the world, the flesh, and the devil; is constantly trying to tempt us to sin.  Today we consider the humbling doctrine that, even as believers, there is nothing in us to warrant that God should lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil.

After years of studying the Westminster Standards, I believe one of their most important contributions to our faith is in how they consistently give all glory to God.  This section of the Catechism’s answer as to why we ask God to lead us not into temptation but to deliver us from evil is a wonderful illustration of this point.  Here we have the final section of the Catechism’s instruction wherein it addresses the mindset, or the motivation, of the person who is praying for God’s deliverance from temptation and from all evil.  The next section of the answer goes on to address what we are actually praying for—the object of the prayer—but today, we get the third and final part of what should be in our minds and heartswhen we pray.  To recapitulate: first we are to acknowledge God’s goodness and sovereignty in ordering all things, including times of temptation, according to His glory and our good.  Second, we must concede that the triad of enemies against us—the world, the flesh, and the devil—are each constantly and fully bent on our giving into temptation, and so much more powerful than us, that apart from God’s gracious help they would easily do it.  The third and final thing we should believe and know to rightly pray this part of The Lord’s Prayer is that all of our hope for God to answer this request must be placed in the mercy and grace of God that has been purchased for us by the blood of Jesus Christ.

This means I ought to truly and humbly look at myself to consider the question, “Why should God lead me not into temptation and deliver me from evil?” Here, the Catechism lovingly checks all confidence in ourselves. As converted people God has pardoned us from our sins, but we are so corrupt, so weak, so lacking in diligence, that we too often easily succumb to temptation whenever it comes. We are not only subject to being tempted, but we even at times seek it out and foolishly put ourselves in the places where we know it will come. And we have no power in ourselves to (successfully) resist temptations when they do come, or to recover out of them after we have fallen for them. This means that even after we stop giving in to a temptation, we do not fully mourn for what we have done, so that we with pure intent run back to the right path. In other words even our repentance is not as it should be.  Even our repentance falls short and must be “forgiven” by the grace of God through the blood of Christ. 

Nor do we properly learn from our failures.  This is what the Catechism means by our not rightly “improving” temptation when it comes and we fall for it in some way. Thus let us know and affirm that even as we are asking God to lead us not into temptation but to deliver us from evil, it would be just and right for God to leave us to temptation and to give us over to evil.  That even as we are right now: Christians, converted, believing in Christ, repenting from sin, doing good works, etc.; that if God were to give us what we deserve, according to our righteousness in praying for his aid, He would immediately and fully give us over to temptation and to evil. Is this thought unnerving? It should be, because we must first “die to self” in order to truly trust in another.  The good news is that the more I have this mindset of utter hopelessness in myself to find any reason for God to hear my prayer, the more fully and rightly can I now be looking to and trusting in Jesus Christ alone for Him to do it. May God grant that we pray and believe, “Lord, it is because of Jesus alone that I ask you to lead me not into temptation but to deliver me from evil.” Amen.