“Following the leader”

“Following the leader, the leader, the leader. Following the leader wherever he may go!” My daughter Gloria comes home singing this song from Advent ECS, saying “daddy you must follow the leader, follow me daddy!” Jesus teaches the disciples to pray to the Father that he would not lead us to temptation but deliver them from the evil one. This indirectly instructs us many things but mainly two that stand out to me today.  

First, our heavenly Father is the leader.  He is the one who is leading us. If we are faithful to him, we are following. Some might think that praying this way insinuates that if we don’t pray this way that the He will lead us to temptation, but James 1:13 says “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.” So, we know he will not do that. It’s more like a father leading a child down a winding hill with dangerous curves and steep run offs. That father will lead their child away from danger to stay in safety, to get down the hill.  When we pray for the father to lead us, we acknowledge he is the leader and we are following, that as he leads, he will guide us away from temptations that we are prone to fall into. We are prone to wander on our own aren’t we, in our thoughts, our habits, our conversations, we need the Father to lead us into safety in these areas every day,  

The second thing is that there is evil out there, an evil one who wants to cause us harm. We need the Father to protect us from our wandering and to protect us for the one who wants to harm us. The enemy, Satan, is on a constant attack against the children of God, whether we realize it or not. I think both of these asks in the Lord’s prayer are a request and a reminder that we need the Father’s constant leading and protection.  It’s like we are in a War that has already been won, but there are still pockets of resistance out there that are trying to cause us damage in our journey of faith.  We don’t have to be afraid or fear because we have the victory, but the battle is still very real. Take Paul’s encouragement in
1 Corinthinas 10:3-4 3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 6 and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.

And 

James 4:17 “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

So, as you pray the Lord’s prayer today, pause and remember this when asking for the Fathers leading and deliverance, He is faithful to do it. “Following the leader, the leader, the leader…”

And Remember 

Jesus Loves you, and so do I!

Pastor Will