“Lead us not into temptation” (Mt 6:13).
We all know that our Father does not allow us to be tempted beyond our capacity. On the contrary, He helps us to fight them and to grow in this struggle: “God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (1 Cor 10:13).
However, He allows it as an opportunity to demonstrate our faithfulness. Even when we succumb to temptation, God uses it to make us aware of our weakness when we feel too sure of ourselves. Indeed, false security can breed pride, which is the most dangerous enemy of the soul.
That is why we ask the Lord to help us in our temptations and always show us the way out. We are exposed to so many temptations that we need God’s help even to recognise them as such. We also ask Him for the right means of rejecting them. When we suffer defeat, we must implore His mercy and be willing to learn from our mistakes, asking ourselves why we did not reject the temptation in God’s strength. In this way we prepare ourselves for the trials to come.
Along with this request, we should pray to our Father for great spiritual vigilance, so that we may live more and more with that watchfulness which enables us to detect temptations at their root and to face them properly. It is important to hold fast to what Scripture assures us: “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted with evil and he himself tempts no one; but each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire” (Jas 1:13-14).