This article classifies into three subtopics the portions of the Lord’s Prayer—particularly focusing on the clause “Lead us not into temptation”—in connection with Scripture passages (Matthew 6, Genesis 3, Matthew 4, 1 Corinthians 14, James 1, etc.) that speak of “testing (temptation, trials, suffering, or tests)” and their meaning. Woven throughout are the themes Pastor David Jang emphasizes in his sermons and teachings, including the “five words” mentioned in 1 Corinthians 14, James’s teaching on temptation, the contrast between Adam in Genesis 3 and Jesus in Matthew 4, and the core structure of the Lord’s Prayer. All these are integrated into a comprehensive discussion.
I. The Priority of Prayer that Seeks the Glory of God’s Name and God’s Kingdom
When teaching the Lord’s Prayer, Pastor David Jang often underscores the importance of the two great premises: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” The first premise is to pray that God’s name be hallowed, and the second is to pray that God’s kingdom and will come and be accomplished. Jesus’s words in the Sermon on the Mount—“Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33)—also tie into this flow. And in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3–12), Jesus says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,” exhorting us to long wholeheartedly for God’s kingdom and righteousness.
Here, “righteousness” does not simply mean social justice or morality; it signifies the perfect fulfillment of God’s will—directly linked to the idea of God’s kingdom. Hence, we ought to thirst for that kingdom and earnestly seek it. The Lord’s Prayer clearly presents that priority in prayer: above all else, we ask that God’s name be exalted, and that the kingdom where He reigns be established in this world.
Pastor David Jang repeatedly stresses this point in his sermons, because the life of faith ultimately starts with fearing God and living for His glory. Rather than praying to satisfy our own desires, our fundamental attitude in prayer must be first to seek the exaltation of God the Father’s name and the fulfillment of His kingdom and will. From the very moment we call upon “Our Father in heaven,” we become aware that we are His children, and that the collective body of God’s children is indeed the kingdom of God.
Understanding “the kingdom of God” is also a key theme that runs through the entire Bible. God’s kingdom is not merely a physical territory or a political dominion; it is the realm and condition in which God’s reign is fully realized. When Jesus began His public ministry and proclaimed, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17), that “kingdom” meant that God’s rule had already begun on earth through Christ—not merely that we enter heaven after death. Therefore, praying “Your kingdom come” means asking God to reign as King in every situation of our daily lives and in every corner of our hearts, as well as in the church community.
With this vision of God’s kingdom, Pastor David Jang insists that Christians should engage in education, missions, charity, and various social activities. The command to “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness” is an invitation not just for individual believers to maintain personal piety but also for the church community and society at large to be restored before God through prayer and action. When we recognize ourselves as “citizens of God’s kingdom,” prayer becomes the principal act of seeking God’s glory and will above all else. We lay everything down before God and live to exalt His name in all circumstances. Only when this priority is firmly established can we properly handle the next stages of prayer.
The Lord’s Prayer places these two foundational requests—“that God’s name be hallowed and His kingdom come”—up front, followed by three human-focused petitions: “Give us this day our daily bread,” “Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors,” and “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” Sometimes Pastor David Jang refers to the Lord’s Prayer as five main prayers (or prayer topics), or sometimes six or seven, but he points out that the key flow is first “God’s glory and kingdom,” then “daily bread, forgiveness, and temptation.”
Hence, the very first words we should say when we stand before God are: “Father, we desire Your name to be exalted. We desire Your kingdom and will to be accomplished here on earth.” When we have a heart for the church and all the world to be transformed by God’s kingdom, then we turn to the next requests: our material needs, the restoration of relationships, and victory in spiritual warfare. If this order is reversed—if we skip seeking God’s glory and kingdom and go straight to asking for our needs—we miss the original purpose of the Lord’s Prayer.
Therefore, praising God’s name first and seeking His reign in prayer is the “most critical premise” for every believer. By clinging to this and constantly praying, “May Your kingdom come; may Your name be hallowed in all the earth,” within our churches, families, and personal lives, the prayer itself becomes powerful. Pastor David Jang strongly emphasizes that in order for the church not to become a “dead church” or an “idolatrous church” but rather to experience the living God, its prayer priorities must be crystal clear.
II. The Prayer for Daily Bread and Forgiveness, and the Restoration of Human Relationships
Continuing from the two great premises in the Lord’s Prayer (God’s name and God’s kingdom), the prayer moves on to: “Give us this day our daily bread” and “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” In his sermons and lectures, Pastor David Jang connects these points, explaining that they address our “present and past.” “Give us this day our daily bread” pertains to our present, and “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors” addresses the pastwounds, conflicts, and problems in human relationships.
First, consider “Give us this day our daily bread.” This prayer stems from entrusting our everyday needs to God. Humans need food, clothing, and water to survive. Jesus does not ignore these needs but teaches us to trust in our Heavenly Father who provides for them. When Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount, “Do not worry about what you will eat or drink or wear” (Matthew 6:31), He is not belittling our material necessities; rather, He is telling us to rely on God the Father who knows all these needs.
Pastor David Jang explains that “asking for daily bread” encompasses every sphere of life. It is not merely physical nourishment or financial income but also includes our spiritual sustenance—God’s Word—as well as genuine contentment and rest. In Matthew 4, when Jesus is tempted by Satan in the wilderness, He quotes Scripture saying, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” Hence, asking for daily bread is ultimately an act of complete dependence on God to meet our material and spiritual needs. It is also a discipline that teaches us to lift our eyes to heaven daily, to request what we need, and to receive it with gratitude.
Next, the prayer “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” points to resolving problems from the past. If past mistakes, hurts, and conflicts continue unresolved, they can affect current relationships and the future. By practicing forgiveness, we free ourselves and others from the bondage of bitterness. The fact that Jesus Christ bore the sins of all humanity on the cross (John 1:29) means that God, in His infinitely great love, forgave our sins. Therefore, we, too, should recognize each other’s weaknesses, forgive, and set one another free.
Pastor David Jang often describes forgiveness as “the way to heal human relationships.” If we have been reconciled to God in Christ, we must also reconcile with our brothers and neighbors. It is not enough to rejoice only in our own forgiveness; we must extend that love to others and seek peace with them. This principle lies at the heart of the Lord’s Prayer, and it connects with Jesus’s teaching in Matthew 5:23–24: if we are about to offer our gift at the altar and recall that our brother has something against us, we should first be reconciled to our brother before making our offering.
Forgiveness is by no means easy and often involves deep wounds. But it is the path Christ asks of us, and it is the driving force that enables us to live a life distinct from the world. Pastor David Jang frequently says, “If you truly know that God has forgiven all your sins and faults, then forgiving someone who hurt you—even though it’s difficult—is the natural step.” In this sense, the Lord’s Prayer urges that we seek God’s glory and kingdom first, and then pray for our basic needs and the restoration of broken relationships. As we maintain this order, consistently praying and practicing it, a culture of genuine forgiveness and reconciliation will begin to flourish within the church and society.
When Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 13:5, “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves,” it can be interpreted similarly: reflect on your inner life—are you truly practicing forgiveness and love? Only if you are reconciled with God can your faith grow fully, and that requires reconciling with your neighbor. If there is any hatred or an unwillingness to accept someone in the church or in our personal lives, we must break that chain through forgiveness. This is the calling of those who have received God’s grace, and the Lord’s Prayer makes it clear.
By holding onto the prayers for daily bread and forgiveness, we find not only the provision we need in daily life but also liberation from relational wounds and entanglements in our hearts. As we entrust our material and spiritual needs, as well as the brokenness in our relationships, to God and move forward, our past and present are both restored in the Lord. Pastor David Jang calls this “the core and the key to practicing prayer,” stressing that while the church should encourage people—young or old—to experience the gifts of tongues and the Holy Spirit’s power, it must prioritize understanding the Word and practicing mutual forgiveness as a community of love. Speaking in tongues and prophesying are important spiritual gifts, but as Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13, if there is no love, it is nothing more than a noisy gong. True Christian faith must manifest in love and forgiveness. Hence Paul’s warning in 1 Corinthians 14:19: “I would rather speak five words with my mind, so that I may instruct others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.” Pastor David Jang repeatedly emphasizes that these “five words” connect to the five main prayer themes in the Lord’s Prayer.
III. “Lead Us Not into Temptation, but Deliver Us from Evil”: The Prayer to Overcome Temptation and Trials
The final major theme in the Lord’s Prayer—“Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil”—pertains to the future. When Pastor David Jang explains this petition, he says we need to distinguish between the different nuances of “temptation.” In English, “trial,” “test,” “suffering,” and “temptation” can all be referred to as some form of “testing.” In Scripture, “test” in one context can mean trial and refining, while in another context it can mean the devil’s temptation. The “temptation” in the Lord’s Prayer refers to the latter—“temptation” in the sense of enticement to sin.
James 1:13 says, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.” This clarifies that the source of temptation is not God. We fall into temptation due to our own desires: “each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust,” which conceives sin, and sin leads to death (James 1:14–15). In other words, humans sin not because God made them do it, but because of “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life” (1 John 2:16) that lurks in us.
Pastor David Jang teaches that we should recall Genesis 3 in connection with this. The serpent (Satan) lied to Adam and Eve, saying, “You certainly will not die; if you eat this fruit, you will become like God,” tempting them to disobey and eat the forbidden fruit. It appeared to be “good for food and a delight to the eyes” (Genesis 3:6). But God had already clearly commanded that eating it would bring death. Therefore, the cause of human fall was not God but the serpent’s deceit and human desire.
Adam shifted the blame after he sinned. When God asked, “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9), Adam blamed Eve: “The woman whom You gave to be with me—she gave me from the tree, and I ate” (Genesis 3:12), indirectly suggesting it was God’s fault for creating her. This exemplifies human sinful nature. In contrast, in Matthew 4, Jesus faces the devil’s temptation in the wilderness but overcomes it through God’s Word, remaining without sin. These two accounts—Adam and the “Second Adam,” Jesus—highlight the contrast in how each responded to temptation.
Pastor David Jang underscores, “We all face temptation at times, and we must pray not to succumb to it.” That is precisely why the Lord’s Prayer includes “Lead us not into temptation.” And if we have already fallen into temptation, then the subsequent phrase, “but deliver us from evil,” becomes our final plea. “God, if I have already stumbled, please pull me out. Deliver me from this evil.” That is the prayer of genuine repentance and the only way to escape sin’s trap.
James 1 differentiates between “trials” (in the sense of testing from God) and “temptations” (seduction by the devil). James 1:2 says, “Consider it all joy when you encounter various trials,” meaning that we can rejoice in the refining process allowed by God to strengthen our faith. Indeed, throughout Scripture, God often permits “trials and tests” to build up His beloved children. In Genesis 22, God tests Abraham, who demonstrates his faith by offering Isaac, thus confirming his trust in God (Genesis 22:12). In the Book of Job, Job experiences immense suffering but emerges refined like gold in his faith. Such “trials” are given by God to strengthen us and lead us toward hope (Romans 5:3–4).
However, James 1:13–15 speaks of “temptation” from the devil, which works in collusion with our desires to produce sin and ultimately death. Therefore, James declares, “No one should say, ‘I am tempted by God.’” God never uses evil to bring us down; rather, He wants us to overcome temptation or, if we have succumbed, to rise again and be saved. Pastor David Jang explains this is the profound message of the Lord’s Prayer regarding temptation: praying “Lead us not into temptation” is asking for God’s protection from enticement and, if we are already trapped, crying out, “deliver us from evil” for God’s rescue and grace.
Pastor David Jang teaches that the most critical step in defeating temptation is “not misunderstanding God.” If, like Adam, we shift blame to God—thinking God caused our downfall or is being unfair—we remain stuck. Yet God is a God of love and mercy who sent Jesus to restore our brokenness. That is the gospel. But Satan tries to plant lies in us: “God has abandoned you,” or “Your misery is God’s fault.” If we believe these, we remain deeper in temptation. Therefore, we must clearly grasp God’s true heart—that He is waiting for us and wants our salvation.
The Lord’s Prayer constantly reminds us of this truth as we daily pray, “Lord, keep me from falling into temptation. And if I have fallen, deliver me from evil.” Such consistent, humble prayer is essential for spiritual warfare. Pastor David Jang encourages churches and believers to seek the gifts of tongues, prophecy, and other charisms, but more importantly, to hold fast to the principle of God’s Word—to cherish the “five words of understanding.” In 1 Corinthians 14, the Corinthian church had many spiritual gifts but faced confusion and jealousy, criticizing one another. That is why Paul says, “I would rather speak five words with my mind to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue.” Scripture does not explicitly name those “five words,” but Pastor David Jang aligns them with the five core prayers of the Lord’s Prayer, teaching that the church must center itself on “the Word and prayer,” not merely on spiritual phenomena.
No matter how passionate spiritual experiences may be, if someone lacks the foundational prayers that “exalt God’s name and seek His kingdom; ask for daily bread; forgive one another; and desire protection from temptation and deliverance from evil,” their roots are fragile. Thus, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” addresses the core of our ongoing spiritual battle in the future. It is a fervent prayer for repentance and salvation when we stumble. God desires us to pass this test and, if we fail, to return to Him again.
Pastor David Jang proclaims that this is the grand journey of faith. “When a person falls, Satan wants them never to rise again, driving them to self-condemnation and blaming God. But the Holy Spirit says, ‘You are not finished yet; repent and return to Me.’” This underscores why we must rightly understand “temptation.” If it is a test or trial from God, we can embrace it with joy and endurance, but if it is enticement from the devil, we must escape it swiftly. The only way out is by confessing, “Deliver us from evil,” in repentance and humility.
Genesis 3 and Matthew 4 clearly contrast how temptation begins, how it is resisted, and what outcome follows. When the first Adam disclaimed responsibility and hid, the second Adam, Jesus, countered Satan by stating, “It is written….” He used God’s Word as His weapon. “The Bible says you shall not do this or that.” This shows that clinging to Scripture is the path to victory over temptation. If we do not know the Word or have a wrong understanding of God, we easily fall prey to temptation.
Thus, the overarching message of the Lord’s Prayer is, “These are the five most important requests we should bring to God.” Pastor David Jang calls them “five-word prayers,” linking Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians 14 about “five words with understanding” to the five essential themes in the Lord’s Prayer. He proclaims that if we truly live out “the prayer that honors God’s name and seeks His kingdom, the prayer for daily bread and forgiveness, and finally the prayer against temptation, asking to be delivered from evil,” then we will mature in wholeness before God, be reconciled with our neighbors, and escape the enemy’s snares.
That journey is not easy; it is a daily spiritual struggle. But Jesus has already shown us the way, and the Letter of James and other New Testament passages promise, “Let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:4). The trials God sends (trial) can refine us, whereas the devil’s temptations (temptation) seek to destroy us through sin. So we must remain vigilant, continually praying, and if we do fall, we must quickly repent. The Lord’s Prayer’s line “but deliver us from evil” stands as our heartfelt plea for rescue. Pastor David Jang highlights that this is the essence of the life of faith: when you stumble, Satan wants you to accuse God and remain in despair, but the Holy Spirit calls you to come back and be restored.
If “trial” is a means through which God matures us, “temptation” is the tool the devil uses to kill. God has no part in the latter. The evil one is the one who brings us down. Hence, we should not fall into the misunderstanding, “Why is God doing this to me?” Instead, we must discern the serpent’s lies, and if we do fall, rise again by pleading, “Deliver me from this evil.” Through these steps, believers become ever stronger, ultimately receiving the crown of life God promises (James 1:12). This is the biblical perspective on trials and temptation, the very message Jesus aimed to impart with the Lord’s Prayer’s final petition.
Building on this understanding, Pastor David Jang has continuously taught and practiced this in churches, seminaries, mission fields, and various pastoral settings. As a pastor, he hopes believers do not merely pray, “Remove all my trials,” but realize they must stay awake so as not to fall into temptation and, if they have already fallen, repent immediately and cry out for God’s deliverance. In this, they experience the true power of the gospel, and the church retains its vitality. He repeatedly conveys the assurance that individuals and communities who internalize and daily practice these core prayers of the Lord’s Prayer can rise again through any adversity, persevering with faith until victory.
In summary, the above discussion organizes Pastor David Jang’s teaching on “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” within the five main prayer themes of the Lord’s Prayer. By examining only three subtopics—(1) God’s glory and kingdom, (2) daily bread and forgiveness, and (3) temptation and trials—we reaffirm the overall structure and flow of the Lord’s Prayer. The moment we call on “Our Father in heaven,” God hears His people’s prayer and opens His heart. He provides all we need: addressing our past sins, today’s needs, and tomorrow’s perils. Thus, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” is not a timid plea, but the bold confession of a child who strives daily to walk with God. When we truly know God, rightly understand His Word, and lean on Him in prayer, no temptation or trial can ultimately defeat us. This is the blessed promise that the Lord’s Prayer gives us.