Tag Archives: spiritual warfare

Deliver us from evil

This blog is a rewrite of the last piece in a series on the Lord’s prayer done some years ago.

 I hope it comes to us all freshly!

The Lord’s prayer is nothing less than Jesus himself teaching us to pray. This is like being given a bar of gold—to have our Lord, who knows the Father, and who is now our Advocate with him, showing us how we may approach the living God.

And now, as the prayer closes, we, who have prayed for the Father’s honour and kingdom and will, and who are content to trust our daily needs to him, are deeply aware of sin. Those of the past we have asked him to forgive.

But what about the future? Anyone with any self-knowledge will know that the battle is not over yet. So, here is how we can pray. ‘Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.’

We’re asking God to take pre-emptive action with regard to where he leads us, and we’re asking him to secure a good result—to deliver us.

Let us be clear that this is no mere correct formula to get a right result. As with all the previous requests, this is a felt need and a longing of our whole being. ‘I don’t want to sin!’ And ‘I want Christ’s victory over sin to be evident in my own life!’ We have an amazing relationship with our Maker, Father and Redeemer, and we don’t want anything to get in the road of it!

Living in this world isn’t simple. We’re in a battle. Satan has mounted a frontal attack. The world, as shaped by him, is providing a structure that makes sinning convenient. And our own fallen nature still includes lots that can drift, or even surge, into what is wrong.

But we can pray! And we can ask that we not be led into trials or temptations.[i]

Of course, as Jesus explains, trials are inevitable.[ii] They are a part of life from Adam onwards. God has wanted to know what is in our heart[iii], and this involves situations where we have to choose him rather than ourselves.

Think of Job. God lets Satan entice Job to sin with his lips—to curse God. But God has a purpose in allowing this, even though Job never discovers what it is. He wants Satan to know that Job loves him for who he is and not because of how much he gets out of it.

Think of Jesus himself. The Spirit drives him into a wilderness where he is tempted by Satan.[iv] Again, there is a battle to be won here that Israel has failed and that Jesus will win. He will forge a new human obedience, even under trial.

Think of Peter. He will deny his Lord. Jesus doesn’t pray that Peter won’t fail. He prays that his faith won’t fail.[v] His disciple needs to know how frail he is. But he also needs to know how God will keep him in faith through it all.

But if we understand the forces that are marshalled against us, and have come to understand the secret complicity of our own hearts in this war, we won’t relish the battle. Basically, we’re asking God to keep our struggles manageable.

So, God, in his wisdom, will allow us to pass through these times so that we may glorify him. But he won’t let the trial be beyond us![vi] Paul explains that we share the same battle as everyone else, and assures us that God will create an escape route in the midst of the trial so we may be able to bear it.

Here’s some examples.

Jesus encourages the disciples who share Gesthemane with him, to ‘watch and pray so that you may not enter into temptation.[vii] Like them, our spirit is willing but our flesh is weak.

And then, when Jesus is being arrested, he tells the soldiers to take him and let his disciples go.[viii] He knows their limit and steers them out of the way of trouble.

Jesus has earlier warned that Jerusalem will fall, and encourages followers to pray that their flight will not be in winter or on a Sabbath.[ix] He doesn’t want their life to be any more difficult than it will be.

And Jesus is doing the same now, at the right hand of God. He speaks to the Philadelphian church who have ‘kept [his] word about patient endurance’. He will keep them ‘from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole earth’.[x]

This ‘way of escape’ may be many things. We won’t know what it is until it happens, or when we look back at what has happened.

So, when we ask that we not be led into temptation, we’re acknowledging our frailty, but we’re trusting his faithfulness, and moving on confidently.

The other part of our prayer is to ask God to deliver us from evil (or sinning),or from the evil one—that is, Satan. Either way, it comes back to the same thing because Satan doesn’t just want to harm us. He wants to get us sinning like himself.

And now, Jesus has come among us to destroy the works of the Devil. And he’s saved us with a view to ruining our appetite for sin and making us accomplices in his project! So, we’re not just asking to be delivered from the results of evil but from doing it.

If we understand what our Lord is teaching us here, our prayer will be heartfelt! We want the same result as Jesus Christ. But we’re not volunteering as heroes. We’re offering ourselves to a gracious Father, and it’s important for us to know that he knows what we can handle, and how to get us through our trials.

I’m always nervous when Christians are challenged to rise up and do this or that. It can appeal to our ego and desire to prove ourselves. Let’s face it. We’re not up to it. We’re weak. We succeed by getting help from above. And the more we know our weakness, the better the result will be!

James does tell us that we can rejoice when trials arrive.[xi] But the reason for our joy is not our success. It’s finding out that our faith has grown, and it’s this testing of faith (and our prayer of faith) that produces steadfastness.

So, as James continues to tells us, we should ask God to help us act wisely, and believe he will do this for us. It is in this way that we will remain steadfast under trial and receive the crown of life.

Well, looking back over this whole prayer, we have been encouraged to be engaged with and to enjoy all of who God is and what he will do, but also to trust him with our whole life, including the frailty of our own faith. So now, in the words Paul writes to the Thessalonians, ‘…may the God if peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.’[xii]

[i] The Greek word (peirasmos) can mean temptation or trial. God doesn’t tempt anyone, so trial is probably the best translation, but then, God does lead us through waters in which Satan may attack.

[ii] Matt. 18:7

[iii] Deut. 8:2

[iv] Mark 1:12-13

[v] Luke 22:31-32

[vi] 1 Cor. 10:13

[vii] Matt. 26:41; Luke 22:40, 46

[viii] John 18:8-9

[ix] Matt. 24:20

[x] Rev. 3:8-10

[xi] Jam. 1:2-12

[xii] 1 Thes. .5:23-24

9—Sharing life with God

The thing that’s unique about us Christians is that we know God. In seeing Jesus, we have seen the Father (John 14:9). We can approach him, love him and make requests.

From the beginning, Satan has sought to undermine this relationship, and Paul has shown us how to deal with his strategies. Now he tells us we’ll need to be praying as well (Ephesians 6:18).

You’ve probably noticed that in this letter of Ephesians, Paul doesn’t just tell us something and assume we know. He prays (1:15-17; 3:14-16). He knows that only God can reveal himself. This is true about every part of our Christian life. We are always needing things that only God can do. So, we need to share in this praying.

Here’s the directions Paul gives us.

First, pray in the Spirit on all occasions!

Prayer is not just closing our eyes and saying prayers. It will include that but it’s more a way of life that’s been opened up to us by the Holy Spirit.

If we check back in this letter, we’ll get some idea of what prayer in the Spirit might look like. The Spirit is giving us a taste of the life God is planning for us (1:13). He’s enabling us to know God as our Father (2:18) and to believe Christ is living in us (3:16). And he showing us we all belong together as God’s people (4:3).

Without this work of the Holy Spirit, we forget who we are and can easily become engrossed—and upset—with all the things going on around us. And then we’re in no mood to pray!

That’s why we shouldn’t grieve the Spirit (4:30). Rather, we should be filled with him (5:18). We are being kept in relationship with our Saviour and our Father by his presence (2 Corinthians 13:14). If we make it our business to enjoy this, it’s not a burden to share our life with God. It’s a relief. It’s a joy.

We need to throw open the windows or our stuffy lives and let some fresh air in. God means us to live by the wind of his Spirit, even while we are living in the messiness of this present life.

I hope this is the way you see prayer. If it isn’t, perhaps you could ask the Lord to show you something new about himself. God is the natural habitat for every human being. A Christian is, simply, someone who is counting on this being true.

Second, use all kinds of prayers! And make all sorts of requests!

Jesus says ‘Pray like this…’ and gives us a pattern for our praying (Matthew 6:9-13). It’s starts with things that are for God’s glory and authority and follows with all the things we are needing—including forgiveness.

So, with this pattern in mind, there’s lots of things we can say in our prayers. The main thing is that we are being real. The almighty God is our Father. He’s the only one who can make a difference. He gives good gifts. And he doesn’t want us to be anxious about ourselves. That’s why we need to trust him with everything we’re concerned about. Everything!

Third, persevere in prayer!

This means keeping on trusting when ‘the heavenlies’ seem unreal, keeping on hoping when nothing seems to be happening and going on loving when it’s not producing any response.

This also means praying whether we feel like it or not. The world tends to live by its feelings. And this makes us weak. If we believe God loves us, that he’s given up his Son for us, that he is interested in what we think and what we want, then we will pray. We don’t have to feel anything. We have to believe.

None of us finds this straight-forward. The idea that some people are special and find it natural to pray and that other are practical and find it hard is just not true. We all have spiritual tardiness (Paul calls it our ‘flesh’). So, we need to encourage each other and keep listening to God’s word.

This perseverance means a lot to God. It shows him that our faith is genuine (1 Peter 1:6-7). And it’s very important for us too. It produces the character that is appropriate to our future life in God’s presence (Romans 5:3-5).

Fourth, pray for all of God’s people!

When we pray for our fellow Christians, we are not just being kind to them. We are helping in the business of God having a company of people who love and serve him.

Paul calls us all ‘saints’—that is, God’s holy people. This doesn’t mean we are perfect. It means we are chosen by God to fulfill his purposes. And God is eager that we live in this way. So, there is plenty for us to pray for!

Looking back over these last few articles, we have seen what God has done to have us strong in our Saviour, Jesus Christ. We are protected from evil powers because we’ve taken up all that God has done for us in him. We are protected because we’re being shaped by this gospel rather than by the world. We can stand firm because we’re using his weapons—not our own.

And now, by our prayers, we are ready to stand in the days God is giving us on earth.

In one sense, we are never ready to live—not by ourselves. But God has provided all that we need. And he waits to hear our prayers. So, we are always ready.