The petition does not assume that God will lead a Christian into temptation. God does not tempt anyone (James 1:13–15). As such, it is a request to be kept in the faith in the last days/time of testing before the return of Jesus Christ. The believer knows that testing will come and he prays for God to bring him safely through such testing (Psalm 141:3–4; Isaiah 63:17; Isaiah 64:7).1 In essence it is a prayer for strength to fight against the sinful nature (1 Corinthians 10:13; Romans 8:12–13),2 a prayer for God to lead the believer into righteous living.3
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.