Mensa Otabil - Deliver Us From Evil
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Next week is going to be a very powerful week as we start our 40 days of power. From Thursday, June 23rd, we begin 40 days of prayer and fasting, and I want to encourage each one of us to be part of it. We end on August 1st—40 days of power—and that’s why I’m teaching on prayer, preparing us for those times of intense prayer.
So we go back to our study of the Lord’s Prayer. We are concluding it with Matthew chapter 6, verse 13: «And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one, for Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.»
After the Lord has forgiven us of our sins, we must ask Him to lead us not to sin again, not to lead us into the same trouble that He has forgiven us of.
There are two parts to this prayer that I want to focus on. First, we pray for God’s leading. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus asked His disciples to watch and pray so that they do not enter into temptation. So, not entering into temptation is something we should really focus on in our prayer. When God leads us, He doesn’t lead us into temptation; He guides us in the paths of righteousness. He leads us into His perfect will, where we do what He wants us to do, and He shows us His right way.
Not only does He lead us in the path of righteousness, but if we should fall away from this path, He also leads us in the path of restoration. God wants us to walk in the path of righteousness. What if we miss it? What if we deviate? Does God abandon us? No, He brings us back to the path of righteousness. He restores us in His guidance. So when we pray for God’s leading, we pray that we do His perfect will, but should we falter in this will, we ask that He will restore us to the right path.
The second thing is that God will deliver us from the evil one, so we pray for God’s deliverance. Jesus promised that He is able to keep those who are His from the evil one. The reality of life is that there is an evil one out there whose desire is to destroy our relationship with God and ruin our lives and the harmony within them. We pray that God delivers us from the evil one.
First, He delivers us from the destroyer, from Satan, from demonic powers, from every evil power. His grace is sufficient for us, for in His death and resurrection, Jesus dethroned all principalities and powers and made a public show of them. There is no evil power stronger than the authority of the name of Jesus. So, He delivers us from the destroyer, but He also delivers us from all evil schemes.
Believe it or not, someone, somewhere, is planning a scheme for you to fail. You may not know it, but there are traps and schemes along our path, and we pray that God will deliver us from every trap, from every evil agenda set to derail us, that is set ten years away. I don’t know what plan has been set against you, but you will defeat it, you will overcome it, and you will be a conqueror. God will give you the victory; the plan of evil will not succeed against you. Jesus says to pray that He leads you, and we also pray that the Father delivers us. That’s how Jesus wants us to pray.
Let’s pray. Say with me: «Heavenly Father, lead me in the way I should go. Deliver me from every evil scheme set against me. In Jesus' name, amen and amen.»