"Do not tempt us": The subtle meaning of a prayer for the divine presencetranslated

The phrase "And lead us not into temptation" from the Sunday Prayer is one of the most profound and mysterious requests of the "Our Father". At first reading it seems to be asking God not to lead us into a state of trial. But this thought raises a difficult question: If God is good and does not desire the fall of man, why should we ask Him not to lead us to something that He Himself would not want to happen?

By Petros D. Damianos (Dr. of Philosophy – NTUA Teaching Staff)

The answer may be found in the word "εἰενεγῃς" itself. The verb comes from "εἰσφερω", meaning "bring in", "introduce", "lead into a state". So the phrase does not need to be understood as "God, do not place before me a temptation that You create", but as:

"Do not let me enter the place of temptation."

It is not necessarily the external fact that we ask to disappear, but the internal entry of man into it.

If we accept that God does not send temptations, but that the world, through human freedom, has become a place where there are conflicts, desires, injustices and trials, then prayer acquires a deeper...