Deliver Us From Evil Part —Part 1

Deliver Us From Evil Part —Part 1

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE: Matthew 6:13– “…deliver us from evil….”

This is commonly referred to as the Lord’s Prayer, but really, it is a model prayer for the disciples, guiding them on important points to include in their personal prayers.

The High Priestly Prayer of Jesus (the Lord) is found in John 17.

•  Who is Jesus referring to as the evil one? Satan.

Most churches are either quiet about this or oppose it entirely as they do not want an open confrontation with the evil one or his minions (witches, wizards, necromancers, cultists, psychics, astrologers, satanists etc). Whether you like it or not, you will soon come in confrontation with the evil one or his foot-soldiers if you are indeed God’s own if you have not come in contact with one already.

But it is our prayer that God will deliver us from the evil one.

For example, I believe it is because of this fear of confrontation we have few churches in the villages and 10 churches of same denomination in the city! The deficiency of the modern day churches is not adequately equipping the saints on sufficient information on the evil one and means of combatting him.

Some ignore the protective covering of holiness/helmet of salvation and emphasize only prayer. The evil one ‘are’ replicated in different stratas and systems, and several pathway they have been able to infiltrate many places. We are not to take them for granted rather, are we to be afraid of them but unfortunately many times many lost their tools that gave the pre-eminence over them.

There will continue to be new revelations to man as humanity will continue to learn and know more about God until he leaves this world but we must know that each progressive revelation of God we know must be built on the previous one, Healing must be built on Holiness, Blessing must be built on Consecration, Faith must be built on Prayer, confession must be built on the word of God. None is sufficient to stand alone but rather as we progress don’t throw away one for the other.

One way of avoiding being oppressed is what we have in 1 John 5:18: “We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.”

 The whole armour of God is the appropriate attire in all conflicts.

• Let us hear from A.W. Tozer why the evil one hates you and your God.

“As we move farther on and mount higher up in the Christian life we may expect to encounter greater difficulties in the way and meet increased hostility from the enemy of our souls. Though this is seldom presented to Christians as a fact of life, it is a very solid fact indeed as every experienced Christian knows, and one we shall learn how to handle or stumble over to our own undoing. Satan hates the true Christian for several reasons. One is that God loves him, and whatever is loved by God is sure to be hated by the devil. Another is that the Christian, being a child of God, bears a family resemblance to the Father and to the household of faith. Satan’s ancient jealousy has not abated nor his hatred for God diminished in the slightest. Whatever reminds him of God is without other reason the object of his malignant hate. A third reason is that a true Christian is a former slave who has escaped from the galley, and Satan cannot forgive him for this affront. A fourth reason is that a praying Christian is a constant threat to the stability of Satan’s government. The Christian is a holy rebel loose in the world with access to the throne of God. Satan never knows from what direction the danger will come. Who knows when another Elijah will arise, or another Daniel? or a Luther or a Booth? Who knows when an Edwards or a Finney may go in and liberate a whole town or countryside by the preaching of the Word and prayer? Such a danger is too great to tolerate, so Satan gets to the new convert as early as possible to prevent him or her from becoming too formidable a foe.”

Our loins girt with truth, breastplate of righteousness, shoes with the preparation of the gospel of peace, shield of faith, helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit/word of God. Note the quote “Satan hates the true Christian for several reasons. One is that God loves his children, and whatever is loved by God is sure to be hated by the devil. Another is that the Christian, being a child of God, bears a family resemblance to the Father and to the household of faith. Satan’s ancient jealousy has not abated nor his hatred for God diminished in the slightest. Whatever reminds him of God is without other reason the object of his malignant hate.

This is the reason for satan’s hatred.

But unfortunately, Christians spend more time doing other things (dancing etc) in the church than actual preparation for this confrontation. Ultimately, the meaning of “Deliver us from evil” is not found in a dissection of the individual words but in the general direction of the clause.

Satan is ultimately behind all evil, so it makes little difference whether we are to ask for deliverance from evil in general (sin) or from the evil one, specifically, since the two are related.

Likewise, every time of “hard testing” is an opportunity to trust God or to compromise and yield to sinful temptation and thus to some extent come under the control of sin and the devil. In the Lord’s Prayer, we are instructed to pray that God will protect us from situations that would tempt us to sin. It is a request that sin never gains a foothold in our lives.

Jesus taught His followers to pray, “Deliver us from evil,” because we cannot resist the devil in our own strength. The believer in Christ has been delivered from the penalty of sin (Romans 8:1), but we are still in a daily battle against sin and the devil. We need to rely on the Holy Spirit to help us resist temptation and overcome sin in our lives. Praying “deliver us from evil” is recognition of our own limited abilities and a means of asking for God to step in and help us. While we can pray for help to overcome temptation and sin, we can also pray that we will not be put in positions where we would face severe temptation.

 Imagine a civilian going to war without armour and preparation. He will surely die with the first bullet. That is the situation of most saints, though saved, in Zion. The prayer that God would deliver us from evil has a counterpart in the command and promise of James 4:7: “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” This is prefaced by “submit yourselves to God.” If we were to face the devil in our own power, we would be overwhelmed rather than overcome. We can only resist temptation, avoid sin, and defeat the devil by a conscious reliance upon God’s power. Just as we need to ask for “daily bread” for our physical needs, we need to ask for “daily deliverance” for our spiritual needs.

• Our father, we thank you for opening up our heart to see this reality , we just want to maintain fellowship with you consistently, please help us. Deliver us from the evil one and show us your mercy. Thank you Jesus. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

(A teaching by Bro. James Elegbeleye)