Luke 11:4-And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.” NKJV
The way that Jesus taught His disciples to pray covered all of life. It doesn’t seem like it when you first read the words, but it does. It covers the establishing of the relationship we have with the Father. It reveals the magnitude of His greatness and dominion over all of the earth. We see the holiness and awe of His Presence and realize that He is God and there is none besides Him. Then we move into the place of prayer, where we surrender our will and agenda to His will and plan. A time of praying about the things on His heart and mind.
Then we turn to our needs. Jesus told us we can pray daily for our spiritual and natural concerns. Nothing is missing, and nothing is lacking. We remind Him that as He has forgiven us, so we willingly forgive others. Therefore, as we stand forgiven and place our requests before Him, we can be assured that He is listening. Waiting to respond.
We realize that we are not able in our own strength to resist all the wiles of the devil, so we ask Him to keep us from the many temptations that could come our way. And we end this prayer by asking Him to keep us from the enemy. It’s where we start tonight. Jesus said that we can pray to be delivered from the evil one.
And lead us not into temptation [but rescue us from evil].
Luke 11:4b AMP
Although I shared two posts on us not being led into temptation, it isn’t an isolated thought. Jesus said to pray that we are not led into temptation, but that we are delivered or rescued from evil, and some versions read, the evil one. On Sunday, we had a guest speaker at the church. During his sermon, he brought up the evil one. He said that some people make too little of the devil, while others ignore him completely. We have a real adversary, and his name is Satan. He was initially called Lucifer (son of the morning) in Isaiah 14. But he was kicked out because he desired to exalt himself above God and enticed a third of the angelic host! Jesus said,
“I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
Luke 10:8 NKJV
verifying that he was indeed in heaven but had fallen from that place of honor. Peter had this to say about the devil,
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
1 Peter 5:8 NKJV
He was speaking from experience. Satan, the devil, is always on the prowl like a lion, looking for prey. Before Jesus went to the cross, He told Peter that Satan had asked for him:
And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”
Luke 22:31-32 NKJV
Jesus told Simon to listen and pay attention because He had something to share with Peter. Jesus told Peter that Satan asked for him! Can you imagine how Peter felt knowing that Satan requested to be able to destroy him by name? We all know that the devil is our enemy, but it’s another thing to know: he went before God and asked if he could attack you! Yet, that’s what he did. But this didn’t phase Jesus because He told Peter that He had prayed for him and that his faith would not fail. Wow! Not only do we have the assurance that Jesus has prayed that our faith will not fail when we come under the enemy’s attack, but He told us that we could pray that we are rescued from the devil! That’s pretty amazing!
Remember in 1 Corinthians 10, where Paul talked about the faithfulness of God during temptations? Well, look at what Paul wrote to Timothy:
But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear. Also I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!
2 Timothy 4:17-18 NKJV
Paul wrote that he was delivered out of the mouth of the lion and that God would deliver him from every evil work! Paul wrote that the Lord stood with him and strengthened him. When we are being attacked by the devil, we should understand that God is faithful; He is standing with us to support us in battle! And sometimes, He will just deliver or rescue us from the enemy and his plans! It doesn’t matter if he has asked for us by name; God can always deny his request! But when God doesn’t deny his request, it is because He is confident that we will come through the test with flying colors, like Job and Peter did!
But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one.
2 Thessalonians 3:3 NKJV
God is faithful! Peter didn’t pray, but Jesus did, and Peter was delivered! Job may not have realized he could pray, but God was faithful and delivered him! We know that we can pray, and we should pray to be kept from the evil one! Since Jesus told us we can pray for this, it is evident that He will keep us from evil and the orchestrator of evil! And remember that He also prayed this over us:
I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.
John 17:15 NKJV
In Gethsemane, before He went to the cross, He prayed that we would be kept from the evil one. If you don’t believe that God will answer your prayers, know that He always answers the prayers of Jesus! Well, I believe He most certainly will answer our prayers when we pray for deliverance!
This is a powerful prayer in its totality. Even the different parts of the prayer teach us that God is concerned about our lives on this earth. Jesus didn’t want to translate us from the world, but He wanted us to be overcomers while living on this earth.
I leave you with this short testimony. I’ve been more diligent in praying through this model of prayer. And most mornings, as I prepare to leave for work, I ask the Lord for His protection over us as we drive to our jobs and go throughout our day. My husband recently came home and told us that he fell from a ladder. He had been using it for a couple of hours, so when he placed his foot on the rung and it collapsed, he flew to the ground. Amazingly, he was completely whole after the fall. I checked his head for a bump or bruise, but there wasn’t one. I kept asking him if he was sure he was okay, and he said he was. Thank you, Jesus! Of course, we’re incredibly grateful that the plans of the evil one did not come to fruition that day! God is faithful and able to rescue us from the objectives of the wicked one. And the rescue plan begins with us praying! Glory to His Name!! Wonderful Jesus!
Wonderful Jesus! 