Mt. 6:13, “deliver us from the evil one.”
We are looking this week at persevering in prayer. Persevering in prayer is hard work. God wants us to pray; our enemy will try and keep us from praying. Or convince us that weak prayers are sufficient. We need God’s grace to persevere; we need his help resisting one who would keep us from praying. Here, in Jesus’ model prayer, he makes it clear and simple that we can and should ask for God’s deliverance from our enemy. But other than when we pray The Lord’s Prayer, do we ask for this deliverance?
Jesus’ words here call to mind the story in Daniel 10 which is one of the great stories in the Bible about persisting in prayer. Daniel was praying, fasting and mourning for 3 weeks. Then God gave him an overpowering vision. Daniel felt a hand on his shoulder, enabling him to get up, slowly, and to get past his fears. He was told that one of the chief angels had been dispatched, due to his prayers, to fight for Daniel and his people.
As you pray, remember the admonitions of Scripture to “resist the devil” (James 4:7; 1 Peter 5:9) and, with God’s armour, “take a stand” against his schemes. You likely won’t have to look far; usually the devil is pretty obvious. He will try to block your prayers with temptations, distractions and discouragements. Hang in there! God’s Spirit is with you as you commit to praying! And don’t forget to pray the Lord’s Prayer, including, “deliver us from the evil one,” as Jesus taught us.
So we pray, together,
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. Amen.