I was never worried myself by the words lead us not into temptation, but a great many of my correspondents are. The words suggest to them that someone has called ‘a fiend-like conception of God,’ as one who first forbids us certain fruits and then lures them to taste them. But the Greek word peirasmos means ‘trial’ – ‘trying circumstances’ – of every sort; a far larger word than English ‘temptation.’ So that the petition essentially is ‘Make straight our paths. Spare us, where possible from crises, whether of temptation or affliction.’
(taken from Letters To Malcolm – Chiefly On Prayer – pg28)
