Matthew 6:13 is the closing petition of the Lord’s Prayer, in which Jesus teaches his disciples to ask God to keep them from falling into temptation and to rescue them from the evil one. The verse then ends with a doxology that declares God’s kingdom, power, and glory to be forever. Jesus spoke these words during the Sermon on the Mount, addressing a crowd of listeners and his disciples on a hillside in Galilee.
Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen.’
Matthew 6:13 (WEB)
What Matthew 6:13 Means
The first request, “bring us not into temptation,” asks God to keep his people from situations that would pull them toward sin beyond what they can bear. It does not claim that God tempts anyone. The Christian letter of James later makes that point plainly, so the petition is best read as a prayer for guidance and protection, not as a suggestion that God sets traps.
The second request, “deliver us from the evil one,” asks for rescue from the Evil One, the tempter and accuser the Gospels portray as opposing God’s people. The closing words lift the prayer toward God’s sovereignty: the kingdom, power, and glory belong to him forever. The verse promises that God hears and is able to protect, but it does not promise that believers will never face temptation or suffering.
The Context of Matthew 6:13
Matthew’s Gospel was written for a largely Jewish-Christian community, and it presents Jesus as the teacher who fulfills and deepens the law. Chapter 6 forms part of the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus teaches about genuine piety in giving, prayer, and fasting. The prayer appears as a model for how disciples should approach God, not as a formula to be recited without thought.
The verses just before it, about the kingdom coming and God’s will being done, set the tone for the petitions that follow. The verses just after it warn that forgiving others is connected to receiving God’s forgiveness. Read in that setting, the request to be kept from temptation sits alongside a call to humility, mercy, and sincere devotion rather than standing alone as a bare plea for safety.
Key Phrases in Matthew 6:13
1 Corinthians 10:13
No temptation has taken you except what is common to man. God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able, but will with the temptation also make the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
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Paul assures the Corinthians that God does not allow temptation beyond what they can bear and always provides a way out. Read alongside Matthew 6:13, it shows that the request not to be led into temptation rests on God’s faithful limits and his provision of escape.
James 1:13
Let no man say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God,” for God can’t be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one.
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James states that no one should say God is tempting them, because God does not tempt anyone with evil. This clarifies the first petition of Matthew 6:13, showing that asking God to keep us from temptation is a prayer for protection, not an accusation against him.
A Short Prayer From Matthew 6:13
Father, you know how easily my heart wanders toward what I already know will hurt me and the people I love. Keep me from the places where I would be pulled into sin, and give me the wisdom to notice them before I step inside. When I am caught in something I cannot escape by myself, deliver me from the evil one and from the lies he uses to keep me there. Remind me that your kingdom, your power, and your glory are greater than anything I face today. Amen.