Adrian Rogers - Victorious Prayer
Be finding Matthew chapter 6 and we’re going to begin reading in a moment at verse 9 and read right on through verse 13. That prayer that we call the model prayer, the disciple’s prayer sometimes called the Lord’s Prayer. You can do nothing better than to learn how to pray. So many times however when we pray, we really don’t expect God to answer the prayer. Somewhere I have read about some children in a Sunday School class who were going to write a missionary and let the missionary know that they were praying for the missionary. And the teacher of the class said, «Now the missionary’s a very busy person, and he may not have time each one of you back so don’t expect him to write you a letter back». And one girl wrote the missionary a letter. It said something like this, «Dear Brother Brown, we are praying for you. We don’t expect an answer».
I think so many times that is true. That’s the way we pray. We pray, but we really don’t expect an answer. But God has said in Jeremiah 33:3, «Call upon Me and I will answer thee and show thee great and might things that you know not». And our Lord taught us how to pray here. Notice in Matthew chapter 6 beginning in verse 9 through verse 13, «After this manner therefore, pray ye, Our Father which art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors».
And then we come to our text for this morning’s message, «And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen». I thank God for the note of victory that this prayer ends in and I am speaking today on this subject, «Victorious Prayer». We’ve been talking about how we as dads and moms can protect our families. I know no better way than to learn to pray as Jesus taught us to pray, «And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil».
These are treacherous and dangerous days in which we live and try to bring up our children. We used to think of the old time days on the frontier is dangerous days, but it is far more dangerous for a child on the streets of Memphis, Tennessee than it ever was on the frontier. I’m far less afraid of a coiled rattle snake than I am a drug pusher who interjects poison into the veins of our young people and make them an army of the walking dead with hollow chest and sunken eyes. I’m far less afraid of a wild bear, a wolf, than I am the muggers, the rapists that stalk the streets of America. Worse than wind and snow and ice and sun and drought is the all-pervading humanistic philosophy that would invade the minds and freeze the hearts and dry the spirit of our young people. And we need today in these dangerous days, to learn how to pray, to get hold of God because we have an enemy and he is the evil one.
When our Lord Jesus Christ taught us to pray, «Deliver us from evil», actually that may be translated, «Deliver us from the evil one». We’re up against the organized, mobilized, demonized forces of Hell. We have a deadly enemy. The message today is an alarm. It is a call to arms. I told a congregation of men that God’s alarm clock has gone off in America. If you can’t hear it, you’re deaf. God’s alarm clock has gone off in America and we dare not push the snooze button and roll over for a few more winks. It is time to wake up, get up, dress up, and begin to go to war and we must learn to pray. The warfare is prayer. The warfare is prayer.
Three things, as we look at this verse, I want you to see. First of all I want you to see the sinister person of evil. Now look at the verse again, Matthew 6 verse 13, «Deliver us from evil». Weymouth translates that, «Deliver us from the evil one». It speaks of Satan. Now, Satan doesn’t want me to preach this message this morning and he will try to keep you from listening to it. He doesn’t want you to understand what I’m about to tell you. It has always been Satan’s method to pull the veil of darkness over his kingdom, to hide behind a veil of lies or to masquerade in some disguise. But by the aid of the Holy Spirit today, I want to rip away that mask, and expose him for what he is.
Now I say, we must recognize the person of evil. He is a person. I’m going to give you many Scriptures. I don’t want you to turn to them because we will not have time. I will share them with you. You jot them down. The first is First Peter chapter 5 and verse 8. And here’s the warning, «Be sober, be vigilant, for your adversary, your adversary, your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour». Now if you knew that somewhere on this property this morning is a ravenous hungry lion, when you walked out these doors, wouldn’t you be a little careful. I mean if you knew that behind some bush somewhere on this property this morning there is walking about a roaring lion, would you be just a little careful.
Would you walk a little soberly? That is what God is saying, «Be sober, be vigilant. Your adversary,» not somebody else’s, «your adversary, walketh about, as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour». The bitterest enemy of God and his people is someone called the devil, the evil one. Have you ever thought about the names that are given to him in the Bible? He’s called the deceiver. He’s called the liar. He’s called the murderer. He’s called the accuser. He’s called the tempter. He’s called the prince. He’s called the destroyer. He is called the evil one. Now, he’s not the figment of someone’s imagination. When we talk about the devil, that’s not a figure of speech. He is personal. He is aggressive. He is intelligent. He is cunning. He is destructive. And his cleverest method is to make people think that he does not exist at all.
That he’s just some sort of a whimsy and we make jokes about someone in a long red suit trying to catch somebody bending over. And we laugh because that is a comic presentation and illustration of this one that the Bible tells us that we are to be aware of. Some people say, «Oh, well, yes, he exists». But they talk about the devil in Hell. The devil is not in Hell. He is not in Hell. He will be; but he is not. First Peter 5:8, «He walketh about seeking whom he may devour». He is not there yet. Many of us don’t understand who our enemy is.
Here’s another verse, Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 12, «For we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principality, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places». «We wrestle not against flesh and blood». The battle is not between human beings. Your enemy is not the communist, not the humanist, not the Republicans, not the Democrats, not your wife, not your husband, not your mother-in-law, not your boss. «We wrestle not against flesh and blood». Now, he may use all of these. He has a thousand heads, but he only has one heart. We wrestle against a person.
Now, I want you to think not only that he is a person, but I want you to think about the position of this person. That verse that I read to you in Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 12 says that he is a ruler of the darkness of this age. He is a ruler. Have you ever thought of Satan as a ruler? He rules over a kingdom of fallen spirits. When Satan rebelled against God and fell from Heaven, myriads of angels fell with him in rebellion. And so in Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 2, he’s called, «the prince of the power of the air».
Matthew 25 and verse 41 speaks of the devil and his angels, just as God has angels, Satan has angels, and as a prince, he rules over the kingdoms of this world. As a matter of fact, he offered to give those kingdoms to Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ never disputed his power or his authority to give those kingdoms. He offered those kingdoms to Christ. Christ refused because the Lord Jesus knew that one day the kingdoms of this world, would become, they are not yet, but they will become the kingdom of our Lord and his Christ. Do you know what the devil is doing now? He is moving the nations of this world like checkers on a checker board toward Armageddon.
Put this Scripture down, Revelation chapter 16 and verse 14. The Apostle John had a vision; he saw something happening. He wanted to know what it was, and here’s what God said, «These are the spirits of demons, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the Earth and of the whole world,» and that includes the United States, «to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty». Demon spirits are working in the hearts and minds of world leaders to bring them to Armageddon. That’s the reason the Bible calls Satan the god of this age; g, a little g.
Second Corinthians 4:4, «In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not». We have a generation that walks in darkness because they have been blinded by the dark prince. His great desire is to be worshipped as the god of this age, and therefore he has developed a system that is an exact counterfeit of Christianity. The devil is not against religion. It is his chief tool. He is in religion up to his ears. Think not only of his person, think not only of his position, but think of his power. Only ignorance scoffs at the power of the devil. It is sheer folly to underestimate his power. That’s the reason the Lord Jesus Christ taught us to pray, «Deliver us, deliver us from the evil one».
Acts chapter 26 verse 18 speaks of, «the power of Satan». Ephesians chapter 6 verse 12 says, «We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers». Satan is a supernatural person. He has supernatural power. He is the supreme dictator in the evil empire. And well did Martin Luther write that monumental song, «A Mighty Fortress Is Our God». And he has in there some dark lines about Satan and this is what he says, «For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe, his craft and power are great and armed with cruel hate on Earth is not his equal».
Now what is his purpose? Let’s talk for a moment about his purpose. Satan is a traitor. He is an open revolt against Almighty God. He was lifted up with pride and decided that he wanted to be like the Most High. His original name was Lucifer; that’s an ugly name to us today, but it was once a beautiful name. Like the word gay was once a beautiful word. It was once a beautiful name; it means light bearer. But Isaiah chapter 14 verse 12 through 14 says, «How art thou fallen from Heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, 'I will ascend into Heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also on the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will be like the Most High».
And no sooner had he unsheathed his sword of rebellion against Almighty God than the judgment of Jehovah fell on him and he fell from Heaven like lightening. And when he fell, myriads of angels fell with him, and Lucifer, the son of the morning, became Satan, the father of the night. But he is still in rebellion against God. What is his plan? How does he work? His chief method, listen, his chief method is deception. His chief method. Jesus said to the unsaved of his day in John chapter 8 and verse 44, «You are of your father the devil, and the lust of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth». His motive is murder. His method is the lie. «He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it».
That’s John 8 verse 44. And so he rules over a kingdom of darkness and a kingdom of deception. I want you to notice the way he is described. For example, in Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 11. We’re told to, «Take on the whole armor of God, that we may be able, may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil». That word wiles is the Greek word methodia. It means the methods of the devil. He’s very methodological. He has a scheme. He already has a plan. He has a plan. Your adversary has a plan to ruin your life and your family. «The wiles of the devil». Second Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 11 speaks of, «the devices of the devil». Second Timothy chapter 2 and verse 26, the Bible speaks of, «the snares of the devil». Put those words together. Wiles, devices, snares, lies.
The Bible prophesies that in the last days there will be a great resurgence of demonic activity. That’s one of the reasons that I believe that we’re living in the last days. And what are some of these things that are demonic resurgence that we will see in the last days. For example, spiritualism. New Ageism. All forms of fortune telling, contact with the dead, astrology, it is all of the devil, but how tantalizing that is to some people. They say, «Well, I’m learning the future». No, you’re not, the devil doesn’t know the future. You say, «Well, I’m contacting my departed love one». No, you’re not, you’re contacting a demonic spirit. Some lady, bless her heart, was on television. She said, «Well, I really do believe there’s something to it». I thought to myself, «There really is lady. There is something to it».
First John chapter 4 verse 1, «Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world». Leviticus chapter 19 verse 31, «Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards to be defiled by them, to be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God». Deuteronomy chapter 18 verses 9 through 14, «When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after thee abomination of those nations. There shall not be found among you any that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through a fire». They were sacrificing the children to demonic gods. And we’re sacrificing today on the altar of abortion. «Or he that useth divination,» that’s a fortuneteller, «or an observer of times,» that’s astrology, «or and enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer». Listen to this, «For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord».
Now, if that makes you angry, come up and apologize to me and I’ll forgive you. «For all that do these things are an abomination to the Lord: and because of these abominations, the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee». That is, it’s the end of a nation. It’s the ruin of a nation when these things come. «Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God. For these nations, which thou shalt possess, harkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the Lord thy God hath not suffered thee to do so».
What’s his plan? To deceive people. Number one, through spiritualism. Number two, through drug abuse. Why do you think that we have an epidemic of drug abuse? Because we have an epidemic of demonic activity. And the Bible teaches that in the last days, there will be a plethora of drug abuse. Revelation chapter 9 and verse 21, «Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornications, nor of their thefts». Those are the big four in Memphis today. These four. Murder and sorcery. Well you say, «How many sorcerers are there»? The word sorcery comes from a Greek word pharmicia; it’s the word we get pharmacist from.
Now there’s nothing wrong with being in pharmacy, but this word means an enchanter with drugs. You see the devil uses drugs to destroy people’s minds. It is demonic activity, so sorcery from time immemorial has been linked with potions that steal away men’s minds. What is sorcery? What is drug abuse? It is instant heaven that leads to everlasting Hell. It is form of synthetic salvation. Another form of demonic activity that we see in the last days is false doctrine, apostasy. Where is the true faith today?
The Bible says in First Timothy chapter 4 and verse 1, «Now the Spirit,» speaking of the Holy Spirit, «speaketh expressly,» that means pay attention. «The spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith». The faith not a faith, the faith. There’s only one. How do they do that? He says, «Giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of demons». When you look for the devil, never fail to look in the pulpit. Satan uses religion. The Bible speaks of the ministers of Satan, the sacrifices to demons, doctrines of demons, the synagogue of Satan.
Again, I want to say that religion is one of his chief tools. Another way that Satan has invaded this day this age and will want to capture the hearts and minds of your children, my children, our grandchildren, is through the entertainment and the media system. He is an angel of light. He is an angel of music. And he is hideously beautiful. He is brilliantly stupid. And it seems that in the media today, we have reached the very bottom of the garbage pail. It is absolutely sickening. The entertainment and media system.
Now, first of all, therefore, if you would have victory. If you would have victory, you must recognize the sinister person of evil. Recognize the sinister person of evil. There is a devil. He is your adversary. And if you don’t recognize that you have an enemy, you’re not going to prepare yourself for defense. Jesus taught us to pray, «Deliver us from the evil one». Second thing, not only should you recognize the sinister person of evil. But you should realize the seductive power of evil. Our Lord taught his own to pray, «Deliver us Lord, keep us, lead us».
You say, «Well Pastor, I don’t have any problems with the devil». Well, don’t brag about it. Jesus did. Jesus met him. Jesus had to deal with him. And if you’ve never met the devil, it’s because you and the devil are going in the same direction. You’re in collusion with the devil. You turn around and get right with God, you’ll be in collision with him. And you will learn how to pray this prayer, «Oh my God, deliver me». And when do you pray this? When is this prayer to be prayed? In the morning. In the morning. He’s also taught us in this passage to pray what? «And give us this day our daily bread».
Can you imagine a person just about to go to sleep at night, puts his head on his pillow and he says, «Lord it’s been a great day. Give me today my daily bread». It’s all over. Why pray for your daily bread at the end of the day. And in the same prayer, where we’re taught to pray for our daily bread, we’re taught, «God deliver us from the evil one». What is wrong with so many of us is that we wake up in the morning, everything’s going fine. We jump out of bed and we go in and get dressed and we go in and have our breakfast. We catch a few pages of the newspaper. Gulp down some hot coffee. Get in the car and go to work. Everything is just fine.
Well think we’ve got it made. And then here comes the enemy. Then we fail, we fall and we come to the end of the day and we say, «Oh God forgive me my debts as I forgive my debtors. Oh, God forgive me, forgive me, forgive me». And every time you pray that in sincerity and in truth, He does forgive you. He does and thank God for that. But why do we keep on asking forgive us for the same thing? You ask God to forgive you and He does. Then you fall again and say, «God, forgive me», and He does. And then you fall again and you say, «God, forgive me», and He does.
There are those in this building who’ve asked God to forgive them for the same thing thousands of times and you know it is true. Thousands of times and you know it is true. Why? Why? Why? Thank God, He forgives. I’ll tell you why we keep asking God to forgive us for the same thing. Because we’ve only learned part of this prayer. We’ve learned to pray, «God, forgive us». But we’ve not learned to pray, «Lord, lead us, lest we fall into temptation. Deliver us from evil». You see the best way to deal with your sin is not at the end of the day to clean it up, but at the beginning of the day to prevent it.
As you go out, this prayer is not the lock that closes the night. It is the key that opens the morning as we come to God in prayer and as we pray to God in the morning for daily bread. We should pray for daily deliverance that God will deliver us. Well, you say, «It’s not so bad around here Pastor. We live in the buckle on the Bible belt».
A Romanian Pastor came to this country. He lived here for a while and do you know what he said? He said, «Satan is revealed in the Bible as a roaring lion and as an angel of light». He said, «In Romania, we knew Satan as a roaring lion, and his chief power was persecution and fear». But he said, «In America, I had known Satan as an angel of light, and his chief power is compromise and complacency». And he said, «It has been more difficult for me to deal with him as an angel of light than as a roaring lion. It was easier to stay right with God with persecution and fear than with compromise and complacency». And most of the people in this congregation this morning are compromising with the enemy and you are losing, you’re losing your family, and you’re losing your children, you’re losing your testimony, you’re losing your reward, and you don’t even know it; complacency. A roaring lion, an angel of light. And Jesus Christ taught us to pray.
When the great Dr. Sidlow Baxter was here, he said many wonderful things, but one thing he said that has stuck in my mind. He said that he can just imagine one of the chief demons in Hell, maybe Lucifer himself, gathering all of the other demons. Lucifer is not a demon; he is the devil. There’s one devil, many demons. But suppose there’s a strategy meeting in, well really, not even in Hell, in the nether world we’ll say. The devil’s not yet in Hell. And they’re saying, «What can we do to destroy Adrian? What can we do to destroy to destroy Dale? What can we do to destroy Bob? What can we do to render that man powerless? Weak»? And Lucifer says, «Keep him from praying. Keep him from praying. Because no matter what else he does, if he doesn’t pray, we can beat him every time. But if he prays, if he learns how to pray, he’ll beat us every time. Keep him from praying».
There’s not a failure in my life, in your life, but what somehow it is a prayer failure. We have not prayed. Our Lord Jesus taught us to pray, «Our God lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one». He would never have taught you to pray that if he did not intend to deliver you. Matthew chapter 26 verses 40 and 41. It’s dark Gethsemane. Jesus is praying. The disciples are sleeping, verse 40, «And He cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and sayeth unto Peter, 'What, could you not watch with Me one hour? '» Now listen to this, Matthew 26:41, «Watch and pray, that you enter not into temptation». Watch and pray. Watch and pray.
You say, «I don’t know why I fail so much». What’s your prayer life like? What is your prayer life like? Our Lord taught us to pray, «Lord, Father, lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil». Now, listen, you must recognize the sinister person of evil. You must realize the seductive power of evil. Thirdly, and finally, you must rely on sovereign protection from evil. Look in verse 13 again, look at it, Matthew 6 verse 13, «And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,» and then notice the little word for, «for Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever». That is the sovereign protection from evil.
Now, while I’ve spoken about Satan this morning, I do not want to keep your focus on the evil empire but on the glorious kingdom of God. And thank God for the note this prayer ends on, «For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory». There are three chords that run throughout the Bible. One is the dark and somber chord of Satan’s revolt. The other is the crimson chord of the blood redemption. And the third is the golden chord of the kingdom of our Lord and His Christ. And you need to see all three of those and need to learn as we sang this morning that the battle is the Lord’s, there is victory in Jesus.
And the Bible tells us in Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 11 to, «Put on the whole armor of God, that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil,» and the whole armor of God is Jesus Christ. I’ve got wonderful news for you, wonderful news. You don’t have to fear. You don’t have to fall. You don’t have to faint. You don’t have to flee, but you can stand if you’ll learn how to pray, if you’ll learn how to pray. What is the ground of our victory? First of all, we need to see that the ground of our victory is God Himself. His is the kingdom. That means absolute, absolute authority. Listen to these words, His kingdom cannot fail. He rules o’er Earth and Heaven. The keys of death and Hell are to our Jesus given. Do you believe that?
Listen, learn this. Satan is powerful, but he is not all powerful. Satan rules but he rules a doomed domain. Satan sails a sinking ship. God’s is the kingdom and God’s is the power. God’s is the power. Some verses, Genesis 18 verse 14, «Is anything too hard for the Lord»? Jeremiah 32 verse 17, «Ah Lord God! Behold, Thou has made the Heaven and the Earth by Thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee». Jeremiah 33:3, «Call upon me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things». «Thine is the power». Oh, what a mighty God we serve. All power resides in Him. And, «Greater is He that’s in you than he that’s in the world».
A man went to an atomic power plant to see how they produced power. You know what he found out? He found out they don’t produce power at all. All they do is release power that’s in those elements. Friend, you don’t produce power. All you do is release the power of God that is in you. God’s is the power. You have a dynamic power plant in you; God Himself. And His is the glory. You want to get your prayer answered? Do you know what the secret of all answered prayer is? Right here, «Thine is the glory».
Listen, put this verse down. John 14 verse 13, «And whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, I will do it that the Father may be glorified in the Son». When your reason for answering and your reason for asking and His reason for answering are the same, your prayer will be the same. Your prayer will be answered. When you want Him glorified, and He wants to be glorified, your prayer will be answered. Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory. I’m telling you, I’m telling you out of my heart that these are dangerous days in which we live. And if you think that God just brought you here this morning for a Sunday morning exercise, just to hear some preacher give a little three point outline, you missed it.
God loves you so much. God loves you so much, you’re so privileged, not because I’m the preacher, but you’re so privileged to be able to hear today God’s plan for you in these evil days to protect your children, your family, your very life, your future. To learn how to pray, to pray in the power of the Holy Spirit and to pray like this, «Oh, God, lead me, lest I fall into temptation, deliver me from the evil one, for Yours is the kingdom, power, and the glory, forever. Hmm, Hallelujah». Starts with the Father, it ends with a King. Our Father, thine is the kingdom. A Father who can hear me. A king who can answer me. Sympathy. Our Father. Sovereignty. Thine is the King. What a mighty God we serve. Folks, it’s not that complicated. Let’s learn to pray. Bow your heads in prayer.
Oh Father, I pray that You will seal the message to our hearts this morning. Thank You Lord that You’ve given victory in Jesus over the dark prince.
Now, while heads are bowed and eyes are closed. If you’re not certain that you’re saved, would you like to be saved, would you? Would you like to know that you really do have life? Jesus said, «I’ve come that you might have life». Could I lead you in a prayer? We’ll call this prayer the sinner’s prayer. And you can pray and accept Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. You can do it right now. Would you pray this prayer?
Dear God, I know that You love me. Thank You for loving me. And I know that You want to save me. Jesus, You died to save me and You promised to save me if I would trust You. Jesus, I do trust You. I believe You’re the Son of God. I believe you paid for my sin with Your blood on the cross. I believe that God raised You from the dead. And now I receive You as my Lord and Savior. Forgive my sin. Cleanse me. Come into my life. Take control of my life and begin today to make me the person You want me to be. And Jesus, give me the courage to make it public. Help me never to be ashamed of You. In Your name I pray, Amen.