Lead us not into temptation
This is part of the model prayer or apostle’s prayer. (Unfortunately it has been called the Lords prayer, which is not. A prayer of our Lord, Jesus, would be the high priestly prayer in John 17. Since the request was to given to apostles to model their prayer it has been called the “Model prayer” or “Apostle’s prayer”)
This sounds strange in that we plead to God not to lead us into templation. Would God tempt us? James in his epistles 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. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. (James 1:13–14). When that is true why is Jesus asking us to pray hence.
The unusual reverse form of this petition is due to its being a figure of speech (i.e., litotes), in which the writer expressed a positive idea by stating its negative opposite. Luke made frequent use of litotes in the narrative portions of Acts (cf. Acts 12:18; 15:2; 17:4, 12; 19:24; 27:20). This construction accentuates the contrast with the preceding fourth petition (Thomas Constable)
This request does not imply that God might entice us into sin, which He never does (cf. James 1:1–15). Nevertheless God does allow people to undergo temptation in order to test their faithfulness and strengthen their faith (Luke 4:1–12; cf. Deut. 6–8; Job). This petition expresses the disciple’s awareness of his or her need for God’s help in avoiding excessive temptation and enduring all temptation. It is essentially a request for help in remaining faithful to God (cf. Luke 22:40).
