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A mother was teaching her three--year--old daughter the Lord's Prayer. Mother recited the prayer at bedtime for several nights. The little girl followed along. Finally Mother asked her daughter if she could say the Lord's Prayer by herself.

All went well until the little girl said: "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us some e--mail!" Like many adults, the girl had trouble with that particular line in the Lord's Prayer.

Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick ran a radio program called National Vespers for almost twenty years. Each year for twenty years he received around 100,000 pieces of mail. Out of his vast experience, Fosdick wrote: "No verse in the Bible puzzles more people than the petition in the Lord's Prayer 'Lead us not into temptation.' 'Is it not a shocking idea,' many say, 'that God leads (us) into temptation and that we must beg (God) to stop...?' "

There are indeed puzzles with this part of the Lord's Prayer. This morning let's consider just two. The first is theological: "Does God tempt anyone?" The second is practical: "How can we resist temptation when it comes?"

First to the theological question: "Does God ever tempt anyone?" Scripture says the answer is "no." Listen to James 1:13: "No one, when tempted, should say, 'I am being tempted by God'; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one" (NRSV).

But if God tempts no one, why do we pray, "Lead us not into temptation"? Because the Greek word used here - peirasmos - can be translated two ways. Peirasmos can mean either "temptation" or "testing and trials." The Revised Standard Version of the Bible has "Lead us not into temptation." But the New Revised Standard Version has "Do not bring us to the time of trial."

God never tempts anyone. But God does often permit us to be tested. Why? To strengthen our character, to build our resistance, and to remind us of how dependent we are on God.

There's an old story about how a missionary candidate was tested. This young man wanted to go into overseas missions. He completed his training and was told by the Dean that he would be tested the next day. The candidate was instructed to report to the Dean's office promptly at 3:00 a.m. He did. But there was no sign of the Dean; the office was empty. He waited patiently until 9:00 a.m. when the Dean finally arrived.

There was no apology from the Dean. Instead the Dean launched into questions. First, "Can you spell 'cat'?" "C--a--t." Second, "Can you spell 'dog'?" "D--o--g." "How much is two plus two?" "Four." "Who was the first President of the United States?" "George Washington." "Congratulations," said the Dean. "You passed!"

Later that day the Dean spoke highly of that young man's character. "First I tested him on self--denial," said the Dean. "He left a warm bed to be at my office at 3 o'clock in the morning. I also tested him on punctuality. The night janitor was watching for him. He was exactly on time. Then I tried his patience. I kept him waiting six hours. But he never complained or got angry. Lastly I tested his humility. I asked him questions a child could answer. And he wasn't offended."

Life tests us often - in ways great and small. God tempts no one. But God allows us to be tested. Testing is good for us. Because faith, like a muscle, grows stronger every time it is used.

Still we pray, "Lead us not into temptation," or "Lead us not into hard testing," because we know our weakness. We know that, as Oscar Wilde put it, "(We) can resist everything except temptation." We pray that the tests God allows will not be too much.

But what about that practical question: "How can we resist the temptations that inevitably come to us?" It seems to me that a first step in resisting temptation is recognizing its power. Sometimes we overestimate ourselves. We're overconfident. We're like the cowpoke in the Old West: a reformed alcoholic. Unfortunately, though sober, "Slim" continued to hitch his horse to the same old hitching post in front of the saloon. Eventually the temptation to go in was too great and Slim fell off the wagon. "When it is temptation we face we are foolishly brave," as Charles Allen has said.

And sometimes it is when we are really doing well - flying high, riding the crest of a wave - that we are most in danger. "We are afraid of our weaknesses ... but ... take chances with our strengths," as someone said (Charles Allen in God's Psychiatry, Spire Books, p. 122).
There is a well--known story about Francis of Assisi. "Once Saint Francis and Brother Leo were out walking. Suddenly Brother Leo called out, "Brother Francis! Be careful, Brother Francis! People are saying remarkable things about you! Be careful!" Maybe it's especially when we're feeling strong that we most need to pray, "Lead us not into temptation." "Lead us not into the temptation of overestimating ourselves." For the higher we go spiritually, the farther we can fall.

A second step in resisting temptation is recognizing it's tricky. Sin can be quite clever in getting around our best defenses. In one of his books, Pastor Bill Barker writes about the Maginot Line. Before the Second World War the French government spent millions on a defensive line of pillboxes and forts. The French boasted that nothing could get through their defenses.

But as we know, the German blitzkrieg simply drove around the Maginot Line. The German Luftwaffe simply flew over the line. France fell to the Nazis within a few weeks (A Savior for All Seasons, Fleming H. Revell Company, p. 78). The French underestimated the cleverness of their enemy. We can underestimate the power and seductiveness of sin.

Sin is tricky. Our temptations can even change with age. Martin Luther wrote, "Young fellows are tempted by girls. Men who are thirty years old are tempted by gold. When they are forty ... (men) are tempted by honor and glory. And those who are sixty ... say to themselves, 'What a pious man I have become.' " They are tempted less by passions, but more by spiritual pride. Temptation is tricky. So we must pray, "Lead us not into temptation." "Lead us not into the temptation of ever underestimating the seductiveness of sin."

A third step in resisting temptation is not to be defeatist. We may look at the power of sin and the sneakiness of sin and decide we just can't win. So we give in. One author writes, "The biggest lie of the devil is that we have to sin" (Charles Allen). But we don't.

Paul writes in Philippians, "I can do all things in (Christ) who strengthens me" (4:13 RSV). God's plan for us is victory, not defeat. Plus Jesus already defeated sin - for us - on the Cross. With the help of God, and a lot of prayer, and being smart enough not to hitch our horse in front of the saloon, we can win over temptation, and not always give in to sin.

In 563 A.D. an Irish missionary named Columba landed on Iona, a bleak island off the coast of Scotland. Columba had sailed from Ireland specifically to bring the gospel to the rough inhabitants of that island and the Highlands beyond. Looking around himself, Columba realized his danger. The Scots were hostile. He was alone and frightened. Columba very much wanted to sail back to the warmth and safety of the Irish coast. Ireland was the intellectual and spiritual capital of Europe at the time.

What did Columba do in the face of that temptation? First he prayed. Then Columba buried his boat. So he had no other resource - or recourse - but to trust God completely. Columba put himself in God's care. God did not let him down.

Temptations are all around us. And God allows us to be tested. That testing is ultimately for our good. Often we can best those tests by not overestimating ourselves, by not underestimating the power of our enemy. And by praying fervently, burying our boats, and by putting our whole trust in God.