Deliver Us From Evil

DELIVER US FROM EVIL. Matthew 6.13.

Once I went over to visit a Christian family who wanted counselling and prayer. They were obviously attacked by the Evil One! Describing the behaviour of their grown up son, both the parents told me that when he is in a rage, he looks and acts like a ‘devil’.

The Lord faced many situations like that during His ministry. It is no wonder He taught us to pray to the Father in heaven, “deliver us from evil”. Many new versions have it as “deliver us from ‘the Evil One’”, as it seems to convey the concept in the original. To me, both deliver me from ‘evil’ and the ‘Evil One’ are equally important. It is the ‘Evil One’ that brings ‘the evil’ on you and me. He is the ‘One’ who makes you and I do evil too!

Everyday, you and I and the whole world are inflicted by the Evil One with all kinds of evil – violence, crime, sickness, calamity, pain and even death. Whether some of them are committed by people or due to natural causes or calamities and disasters, the Bible reveals that they are all through the instigation or initiative of the Evil One. The sad story of the righteous man Job of old is proof enough of this.

Once during a flight home after a ministry trip, when I was high up in the clouds, my thoughts turned to the dramatic scene in heaven where Satan contended with God. He got God’s permission, not once but twice, to unjustly inflict Job! Suddenly I realised that through the story of Job, God was graciously opening the heavens for a little while and letting us witness things beyond our common sight and hearing. God was showing that it is not He but Satan who is the author of all evil.

For His own special reason and in His divine wisdom, God allows Satan to inflict evil on us. Nevertheless, Jesus encourages us to pray to our Father to deliver and protect us from the Evil One and all evil. My wife and I pray this prayer every day as we witness the tragedies of people around us and in the world.

Dear believer, you and I and the whole world need to be delivered from the evil that people commit and also that Satan inflicts on us. Our heavenly Father has the power to deliver us. You should pray daily so that you and others may escape from all evil and especially the Evil One, with the Father’s help.

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, deliver and protect me from evil. Amen.