And we are lead, as it were, _accidentally_ to the possession of God by the removal of impediments from our path. Now there are three things which impede us in our efforts after the possession of God. The first of these is sin, which directly excludes us from the kingdom: _Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, ... etc., shall possess the kingdom of God_;[176] hence the petition: _Forgive us our trespasses_.... And the second impediment is temptation which hinders us from obeying the Divine Will; whence the petition: _And lead us not into temptation_; in which petition we do not pray that we may not be tempted, but that we may not be overcome by temptation, for this is the meaning of being led into temptation. And the third hindrance lies in our present penal state which prevents us from having "the sufficiency of life"; and for this reason we say: _Deliver us from evil_. Some, however, argue that these seven petitions are not very appropriate, thus: 1. It seems idle to pray that that may be hallowed which is already hallowed or holy. But the Name of God is holy: _And holy is His Name_.[177] Similarly, His kingdom is everlasting: _Thy kingdom_, O Lord, _is a kingdom of all ages_.[178] God's Will, too, is always fulfilled: _And all My Will shall be done_.[179] Hence it is idle to pray that God's Name may be hallowed, that His kingdom may come, and that His Will may be done. But, as S. Augustine says,[180] when we say, _Hallowed be Thy Name_, we do not make this petition as though God's Name were not holy, but that It may be held holy by men; in other words, that God's glory may be propagated amongst men. And when we say, _Thy kingdom come_, it is not as though we meant that God did not reign, but, as S. Augustine says to Proba[181]: "We stir up our desires for that kingdom, that it may come upon us and that we may reign in it." Lastly, when we say, _Thy Will be done_, this is rightly understood to mean: May Thy precepts be obeyed _on earth as in Heaven_--that is, as by Angels, so by men. These three petitions, then, will receive their perfect fulfilment in the life to come; but the remaining four, as S. Augustine says, refer to the necessities of the present life.[182] 2. But further, to depart from evil must precede the pursuit of what is good. Hence it hardly seems appropriate to place those petitions which are concerned with the pursuit of what is good before those which refer to the departing from evil. Yet since prayer is the interpreter of our desires the order of these petitions does not correspond to the order of attainment but of desire or intention; in this order, however, the end precedes the means to the end, the pursuit of good comes before the departure from evil.