Sunday message · If My People (A Call to Prayer) series
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Message Summary
As the prayer series “If My People” draws to a close, Pastor Phillip Santillan reads the Lord’s Prayer and turns to its final request in Matthew 6:13: do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. “The Christian life isn’t about becoming progressively unburdened,” he says. “It’s about becoming increasingly dependent on God.”
Phil first recaps the prayer. Calling God our Father reminds us that we belong to a spiritual family and never come to him alone. Praying for his kingdom to come reminds us that life is about God’s will and fame, not ours. Asking for daily bread teaches us to trust him for our needs while we seek first his kingdom. Asking him to forgive our debts as we forgive our debtors is a confession of our commitment to becoming like Jesus. Church hurt is real, Phil says, but no one should be surprised that life together requires forgiving one another as Christ forgave us.
The final request recognizes a real, active force of evil. Scripture speaks of spiritual forces of darkness and an adversary who prowls like a roaring lion, as 1 Peter warns. On our own we are no match; we need a rescuer. The road to a better life is not positive thinking or self-improvement but admitting to the Father that we are in over our heads. Paul assures the Corinthians that God is faithful and will provide a way out of temptation, and Hebrews 2:18 says that because Jesus suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted. Jesus faced the wilderness, betrayal and the cross, and conquered sin and death for us.
Evil’s most effective strategy, Phil says, is often subtle: a slow drift away from being set apart. Jesus teaches us to pray for protection from the temptation of the unburdened life, the belief that freedom from stress, hardship and dependence is the goal and that we do not need God. A Bible college professor taught Phil that theology which works only for certain people is breaking down, and a promise of an easier life says nothing to persecuted Christians or the poor. Satan wants believers assimilated, indistinguishable from the culture, pursuing comfort and self-sufficiency while losing their dependence on God.
To resist, Phil urges three things: recognize the lie that equates godliness with ease, since the cross was not easy; examine whether we truly want comfort and security or Christ; and cultivate daily dependence, trusting God to provide what we need, if not always what we want. Burdens are often the means God uses to draw us closer, as James says trials produce steadfastness. Jesus himself embraced the ultimate burden rather than an unburdened life. Because the prayer says us, not me, resisting temptation is communal; Arthur Pink notes that grace teaches concern for fellow believers’ spiritual good as much as our own. Phil closes by assuring anyone in hardship that God is using it, and by calling the church to embrace its identity as dearly loved children of God and ambassadors of Christ.
Questions about ‘Lead us not into temptation’
The Berean Standard Bible reads “deliver us from the evil one,” with a footnote giving from evil as an alternative (Matthew 6:13). Pastor Phil says the request recognizes a real, active force of evil, an adversary who prowls like a roaring lion (1 Peter 5:8). On our own we are no match; we need a rescuer, and a better life starts with admitting we are in over our heads.
It is Pastor Phil’s name for a subtle temptation: believing that freedom from stress, hardship and dependence is the goal, and that we do not need God. “The Christian life isn’t about becoming progressively unburdened,” he says. “It’s about becoming increasingly dependent on God.” Burdens are often how God draws us closer, since the testing of our faith develops perseverance (James 1:2–4).
Scripture gives two promises. God is faithful and will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear, but will also provide an escape (1 Corinthians 10:13). And because Jesus Himself suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted (Hebrews 2:18). Pastor Phil adds that resisting temptation is communal, because the prayer says us, not me.
