Biblical Prayer: Deliver Us From Evil

We're still on the topic of biblical prayer and if you notice down at the bottom it says a pattern for prayer. We started looking at the Lord what's called the Lord's Prayer in Matthew chapter 6 and calling it a model prayer because it is more of a pattern for praying and we have to pray that these particular words.

So we're at to part 13, deliver us from evil. And again just to little review, we've examined the purpose of prayer and again the whole reason that we're involved in this study is to not only to teach you know you how to pray, what should be included in our prayers, but to get you excited about the concept of praying and that's why we took some time to go into this prayer in particular.

We've looked at false teaching on prayer, looking at the model prayer, and we recognize that there is a priority in the petitions and remember we began by praying our Father who is in heaven. It's always important to remember who we're praying to.

I know that shouldn't have to be said, but in our society does need to be said. And then we let's just review the petitions. Hallowed be thy name, then thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors. And then the sixth, do not lead us into temptation and that brings us to the seventh petition, but deliver us from evil.

Now you can see why, just look at those two petitions, you can see why many commentators join them and say well it's not seven petitions, there's six and when they do that they join the sixth and the seventh and you can see why because they're connected by the conjunction but, so there is a conjunction there, but they're closely related to one another.

And so tonight what we're going to do is we're going to look at what does it mean to when we pray deliver us from evil and we're going to look at it from three specific aspects, which I think you can see are very biblical.

And the first thing is when we pray this prayer, deliver us from evil, the first aspect of it or the first, how shall I put it, the first implication in this prayer is that we're asking to be delivered from the penalty of sin.

Now in order to understand that, we need to look at the nature of sin and I know we've gone through this before in other lessons, but it's important I think that we list this because if you're going to be delivered from evil, if you're going to overwhelm and conquer your enemy, you need to know who the enemy is.

So we battle sin on three fronts, the world, okay, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ who gave himself for our sins that he might deliver us out of this present evil age.

Anybody want to dispute that, that we're living in an evil age? Good. According to the will of our God. So we can see that we do face evil in the world itself, but we also face evil and sin in the flesh.

Romans 8 -6, for the mind set on the flesh is death. And there's many other verses, I'm just picking out one for each. And then we face the devil. Be sober of spirit, oops, I'm sorry, be sober of spirit, be on the alert, your adversary, the devil prowls about like a rowing line seeking someone to devour.

It's important that we remember those three aspects because far too often, if you don't recognize where the temptation, where the evil is coming from, you're not going to be able to handle it properly.

Too often, and in fact, when I preached to Matthew and I preached on each one of these petitions, I did an introduction on the deliverance ministries today. And there's a big movement out there where people talk about, well, I have a spirit of adultery.

I have a spirit of lying. No, you're a liar. It's not that you have the spirit, you're a liar, and it's in the flesh. You can't blame the devil for your lying. It's convenient to do that, but it's not proper.

So the first meaning of deliverance from evil is to deliver us from sin in all its forms because of the nature of sin. So what is the nature of sin? In order to understand that, we need to understand the nature of man.

Sin has corrupted the nature of man. I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but it's good to review these anyway. Sin has corrupted the nature of man. Man is a sinner both by nature and by choice, and man apart from God can never please him.

And man's depraved nature means total inability. That's why it's so important that we pray that we're delivered from the penalty of sin because if we're not, then we are going to pay the penalty of sin ourselves.

So obviously this takes place at the moment of repentance, okay? So we must understand the condition of man. Due to the nature of man, the wages of sin is death. That lays it out very clearly, doesn't it?

Even good deeds account for nothing. For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment, and all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities like the wind take us away.

That kind of says it all, doesn't it? Still looking at the condition of man, and Paul says it so succinctly here in Ephesians chapter 2, and you were dead in your trespasses and sin, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.

Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath. Apart from Christ, that's where we all are. There's not a one of us that is exempt from that.

So when we pray, deliver us from evil, we're praying for deliverance. In the first instance, we're praying for the penalty, deliverance from the penalty of sin. Why? Because sin must be paid for to satisfy God's justice.

Once we have been delivered from the penalty of sin, the good news is Satan no longer has lawful authority over you. He can't even touch you without expressed permission from God, and you'll see that's why this threefold nature of sin or aspects of sin, and what we're praying for deliverance from, is not only just the first time and delivering us from the penalty, but it's ongoing, which we'll get to in a few minutes.

For he delivered us from the domain of darkness, notice the past tense, when we repented he delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son. That's the best transfer you'll ever get, right there, in whom we have redemption and forgiveness of sins.

But that's only the first instance, the first aspect of what we're praying for when we pray for deliverance from evil. The second is that we're praying for the deliverance of the power of sin. This is where we live, right?

If you're a believer in Jesus Christ, when you pray, deliver us from evil, this is what we're really praying for, because we've already been released from the power of sin, from the penalty of sin. So most often we're praying to be released from the power of sin.

So when we pray, deliver us from evil, we're also praying for the deliverance from the power of sin. Why do we have to pray that? Because we're not removed from the temptations of sin when we're saved.

I've often thought, wouldn't it be nice if at the moment of conversion you were just taken out immediately in heaven, sin's gone? But that's not God's plan, is it? Because then who is going to spread the gospel?

That's why we're here. We're not removed from the world. Jesus, in his prayer, says, I do not ask thee to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. Notice, I do not ask thee to take them out of the world.

In fact, the opposite is true. In that same prayer, as thou didst send me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. You're starting to get an idea of why we're praying to deliver us from evil, because we are to be in the world.

We're sent out to accomplish the Great Commission, and that means we are going to have confrontations with the enemy. If you're not having some sort of trouble from the enemy, probably means you're not doing much for the kingdom, you know, because Satan's gonna leave you alone if you're just accomplishing nothing.

So when Satan buffets you, what do you say? Praise the Lord. In fact, Jesus warned of trouble in the world. Remember the word that I said to you, he says in John 15, a slave is not greater than his master.

If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. And then he says again in John 16, 33, these things I have spoken to you, that in me you may have peace, in the world you have tribulation, but I have overcome the world.

And these are the things that we need to keep in mind, and that's why we need to be reminded of specifically the power of prayer, and how important it is to pray like Jesus taught us to pray. So when you pray deliverance from evil, you're praying to overcome sin every day.

It's not just a one-time prayer. This is something that we should be praying every day, is that we would be delivered from evil. Why? Because salvation is more than redemption. We were once for all delivered from bondage to sin and Satan, but we fight the battle daily, and salvation is more than just redemption.

So when we pray deliverance from evil, you're praying for divine help to use the spiritual weapons to overcome temptation, and be delivered from evil. And there's a couple of things to say about that.

Remember the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. That's what Paul says in 2nd Corinthians 10, 4. And then you got to review Ephesians 6. Has anybody here, does anybody remember my take on Ephesians 6?

Anybody? There's one thing that I say every time I mention Ephesians 6, I say it all the time. It's not just for Sunday school kids. It's not so that we can dress our kids up in tinfoil armor, and they can recite.

It is to do that. I mean, that's a good thing to do. And don't ask my wife because she'll show you a picture of me when I was 12 years old dressed in tinfoil armor, but that's neither here nor there. But it's much more than that.

Too often we take portions of Scripture like this and relegate them for little kids. We're in spiritual warfare, and the armor of God is, yes, it's metaphorical, yes, it's symbolic, but it's real, and we have to follow the admonition of Paul in Ephesians 6.

If we are truly going to be delivered from evil, we have to know what our weapons are. We have to know who our enemy is and what his tactics are, but we also have to know what our weaponry and our defense strategy is.

That's why we need Ephesians 6. And then remember the ultimate. I call this the nuclear weapon in our arsenal. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. The greatest way to overcome evil is the power of doing good.

Not my words. That's what Paul says. So when you pray, pray, deliver us from evil, you're praying for divine wisdom because you don't try to outwit the devil. You're not smart enough, but God overcomes evil.

So when you pray, deliver us from evil, you're praying for strength, strength to overcome. You're praying to put to death the lust of the flesh. Arthur Pink said, salvation from the love of sin always precedes deliverance from its dominion.

Deliver us from evil. You're also praying for removal of guilt feelings. Now, there's only very few times you're ever going to hear me talk about guilt feelings. This is one of them. All right. What do we mean by guilt feelings?

Far too often, Christians who have been saved, have been delivered, and have been redeemed walk around feeling guilty for their past sins. That is wrong. That's a tactic of the devil to constantly remind you of your past instead of looking forward to the cross.

If you've asked God to forgive you, what did he say? Maybe, maybe not. Is that what he said? What did he say? He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

So how dare we walk around feeling guilty when he has declared you are not guilty? But that's a tactic of the enemy. So when you pray, deliver us from evil, you're praying for communion with God. The closer you are in communion with God, the less the temptation will have an effect on you.

You're praying for God's glory even when you do fall. What do you do when you do fall? Confess your sin, and he's faithful and just to forgive you of your sin. You're not going to be perfect, only in God's eyes.

You're praying for the ability to follow the prayer with action. Prayer is one of the most important weapons we have in our arsenal, but once you finish praying, it's time to get up off your knees and go out and now do the job.

This prayer is not just negative, it's not merely rescue me, it's a positive prayer, I must do well. That's why the Apostle Paul uses all those words like I'm striving, I press on towards the prize of the upward call of Christ.

It's positive, I must do well. You've been rescued, but now it's time to do something else. I've just listed some helpful, pithy statements, if you will, to prevent from falling into sin. First, be conscious of your sins, secret sins, sins of omission, your areas of weakness, sins particular to your circumstance.

Now this is just all very subjective. You have to be conscious of where have you fallen in the past and what can you do to avoid falling into temptation in the future. Remember, who can quote Romans 13, 14?

And I'm going to throw something if nobody can. What's Romans 13? Just give me the sum and substance of Romans 13, 14. No looking it up, that's cheating. Go ahead. Yes. Make no provision for the flesh.

In other words, you've got to plan not to sin. If you know what your weaknesses are, plan ahead how you will get through the temptation, and then you pray, deliver us from evil. I put down just a couple of examples.

Secret sins, sins that may be only of the mind that nobody else knows about. Sins of omission, which are just as heinous as sins of commission. Your particular areas of weakness. Everybody's got at least one besetting sin, as the writer to Hebrews says.

You have to be able to know that, and again, plan not to fall into that sin. And then sins particular to your circumstances. If stealing, and you're covetous, and you're always looking at money, don't get a job as a bank teller.

Don't put yourself in a position where you're going to have money at your disposal. Be conscious of the true nature of sin. Remember, all sin is not crystal clear and out in front of you. It's seductive.

It's sly, just like its master. Another way to prevent from falling is have the fear of God firmly planted in your heart. What does Jesus say? Don't fear him who can take your body. Take him who can cast your soul into hell.

Have a healthy fear of God. Be in love with God. Fall in love. Love him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And then be involved in advancing the kingdom. Put your hands to good use. What do they say about idle hands?

It's the devil's workshop. There's a reason they say that. Fix your eyes on holiness. What does it mean to be holy? Well, we should know that because we're commanded, be holy because he is holy. Beware of materialism.

Gimme, gimme, gimme. Remember the, wasn't it the Veggie Tales? Was it the Stuff Mart? Everybody remember this Veggie Tales, the Stuff Mart? A lot of truth in that. Be aware that the sins of the Christian are the worst kind.

Why would I say that? Because you know better. You have no excuse. We have no excuse. We know what we should do and we know what we shouldn't do. So when we sin, they are the most heinous of sins. And then all the previous helps depend upon the last two that I'm going to list.

Know the Word of God. You have to be in the Word. You have to know the promises of God and you have to know the deceit of Satan. And then, no surprise here, be diligent in prayer. And that's one of the reasons we're going through this is prayer is not merely rattling off all of the petitions like a Christmas list, but it's praising God, adoring God, thanking him.

And a good part of our prayer life should be involved in those activities before you ever get to asking for things. And a motivating factor in avoiding evil is the third aspect of the prayer, which is deliver us from evil, the very presence of sin.

When we pray deliver us from evil, we pray for the day when we will be free from even the presence of sin. Is there a hallelujah out there? Aren't you looking for that day when there won't even be sin in your presence?

We pray for the day when sin will be no more. We pray for the day when Satan, death, and Hades will be cast into the lake of fire. What a glorious day that will be. We pray for the day when the effects of the curse will be gone and we will be like Christ.

Arthur Pink, I'm going to close with just this sayings of Pink. He says the last four petitions are all petitions for prayers of grace. Providing grace, give us our daily bread. Pardoning grace, forgive us our debts.

Preventing grace, lead us not into temptation. Preserving grace, deliver us from evil. So when you pray, pray like this. Deliver us from evil. Questions?