Praying against Temptation

The old saying is "It's better to ask forgiveness than permission." We've probably all used the saying to justify something we wanted to do but couldn't possibly gain permission for. The way this often works in our house is that one person throws away something that the packrat would never have parted with, planning on apologizing later. That's harmless enough.

But Christians have no business thinking this way on moral matters. According to the fifth petition confession and forgiveness is how we deal with sin already committed. But forgiveness may not be our plan for addressing unmet temptation. We may not sin in order that God's forgiving grace may abound to us (Rom. 6:1–2).

The sixth petition defends us against future sin. Forgive us for the sins we have done. "And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one."