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“Pray then like this . . . lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
— Jesus
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I hope you enjoyed last week’s Sunday Entry from my good friend and neurosurgeon Dr. Lee Warren. If you missed his thoughts on Hope, you can always access the archive of entries at www.addisonbevere.com/entries.
This week, I want to share some words on praying through temptation and trial.
In the Lord’s Prayer, the Greek word peirasmos, which is translated “temptation,” can also be translated “trial,” telling us that trials and temptations, by nature, are inseparably linked. Trials happen when our world feels out of joint, disrupting our sanity, comfort, and security. The temptation that follows is for us to rearrange things to our own design to counteract the trial. We are tempted to use ungodly means to make difficult things right.
We feel lonely, so we chose to manipulate and lust. We feel unappreciated, so we give in to pride and self-sufficiency. The trials of life cause us to ask, Does God really know what he’s doing? When it comes to my peace and wellness, maybe I should take matters into my own hands.
The word peirasmos can be defined as an “attempt to learn the nature or character of something.” At first glance, that definition may seem strange, but when we consider what trials do in and for us, we realize that they are a place of profound learning and awareness. I once heard suffering defined as what happens when our idea of reality clashes with reality itself. I guess the disorientation is the place of transformation.
Response
Do you feel disoriented by trial or temptation? If we’re honest, we’ve all been there and are probably—in one way or another—there right now. My prayer for us this week is that we’d allow God to redeem the pain of the trial and reveal the true nature of whatever we’re facing . . . that we would be reoriented through prayer.
Closing Thoughts
Paul, in one of his letters to the Corinthian church, promises us that “no temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (1 Cor. 10:13)
Notice that the escape is not the absence of the temptation but rather our ability to endure or transcend temptation. In this sense, temptations and trials become pathways of godly formation, perfecting our character, growing our capacity, and delivering us from whatever form evil may take.
Praying with you,
Addison
P.S. I sourced the majority of today’s entry from Words with God, specifically from Chapter 13, “Trials, Temptations, and Joys.” In the next entry, I’ll dive a bit deeper into why Scripture tells us to both “count it all joy” when we go through trials and to pray “lead us not into (trial).” If you don’t have the Words with God book yet, you should definitely grab your copy via Amazon (there’s an eBook and audiobook too), the Messenger Store, or wherever you get your books.
