The Lord’s Prayer begins with an invocation: “Our Father in heaven.” The remainder of the model prayer consists of petitions to the heavenly Father. The first petition is “Hallowed be your name.” The last petition is “Deliver us from evil.”

• Prayer is both an act of worship and an act of warfare. 
• We pray for certain things and against certain things. 
• It is our prayer that god be exalted, and evil be defeated. 

J.I. Packer wrote: “The vision of life in God’s family that we learn from the Lord’s Prayer has three dimensions. It is a life of devotion, of dependence, and of danger.” “Deliver us from evil” is a war cry that acknowledges the pervasive reality of evil, recognizes the power of our adversary, and prays for divine intervention. First of all, to pray this petition is to acknowledge that evil is real. The word “evil” means “badness.”

• It is the absence of good. 
• It is the opposite of good. 
• It is the rejection of good. 
• It is the perversion of good. 
• It is the corruption of good. 

We are not able to overcome evil in our own wisdom, strength, and resources. We are too weak, and evil is too strong. Yet we are not defeated. In John 17:15, Jesus prays for his disciples, “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.” Christ prayed to the Father that we would be kept from evil. In The Lord’s Prayer, he teaches us to pray of protection. It is an urgent cry for divine rescue: “Deliver us from evil.”

John Paton was a missionary on an obscure island occupied by cannibals and headhunters. Every night, John saw the natives in the bushes, staring at them, but they never attacked. When Paton’s wife and baby died in childbirth, he slept on their graves so the cannibals would not eat their bodies. John didn’t return home for over thirty years. The day he was leaving, the chief said to him, “John, there is one thing I never asked you. Do you remember when you first came here and camped on the beach?” “Yes.” “What was that army that encircled you and your wife every night?”

Evil is real. But 1 John 4:4 says, “Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” Do not live in worry, doubt, and fear of evil in the world. Pray to the heavenly Father, “Deliver us from evil.” What does it mean to pray “Deliver us from evil?” 

Deliver Us from Evil Within Us. 

Marc Anthony was a brilliant statesman, a great orator, and a military hero. He is remembered as a defeated fool. His ill-fated love affair with Cleopatra sealed his doom. But the seeds of his downfall were embedded all along. On one occasion, his tutor shouted in young Antony’s face: “O Marcus, colossal child! Able to conquer the world, but unable to resist a temptation.” 

This is the contradictory testimony of many Christians: “Able to conquer the world; unable to resist a temptation.” If you are in Christ, you are a conqueror. Romans 8:37 says, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” Yet we are often unable to resist temptation. The only way to overcome this dilemma is through prayer. 

In Matthew 6:13, Jesus teaches us to pray, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”This verse is considered the sixth and final petition of The Lord’s Prayer. It is read as negative and positive statement of the same request. These two petitions are closely connected. But they are different petitions. Temptation is not synonymous with evil. Hebrews 4:15 says, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Jesus was tempted. But there was no sin to entertain solicitations to evil. This is why he is qualified to be our Savior. This is why we need a Savior. 

• Forgiven sin is the basis of the Christian life. 
• Forsaken sin is the growth of the Christian life. 

We pray, “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” But forgiveness requires repentance. We do not ask for forgiveness to receive a clean slate to continue in sin. The grace of salvation begins the work of sanctification in our lives. Disciples are grateful for pardon for the last time. But we desire victory for the next time. We pray, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”  

Christians are vulnerable to temptation. We avoid people, places, and practices that tempt us. But there comes a point where we cannot outrun ourselves. We are on the verge of being overtaken in a trespass. Unable to overcome on our own, we cry out, “Deliver us from evil.” This petition addresses evil around us and beyond us. But you cannot pray this petition sincerely without first addressing the evil within us. First and foremost, to pray “Deliver us from evil” is to pray, “Lord, deliver me from me!” In Romans 7:19, Paul testifies, “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.” The Apostle Paul was a walking civil war. He lived with a battle between good and evil waging within him. This is the internal struggle every Christian faces. But we wage war from victory, not for victory. 

Thank God for the struggle! You may ask, “Am I really saved, if I keep struggling with the same sin?” The presence of the struggle is evidence of salvation. I am not worried about the Christian who falls and gets back up again. I am worried about the person who claims to be a Christian but is content to live in evil ways. In Romans 7:24-25, Paul writes, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Sinners are chained to their evil ways. There is nothing we can do to set ourselves free. But Christ can deliver you by the power of his bloody cross and empty tomb! John 8:36, Jesus says, “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” 

To be delivered from evil within, you need Christ and the church. We pray, “Deliver us from evil,” not deliver me…” The church is not a place you go to. It is a people you grow with. Hebrews 3:12-13 says, “Take heed, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” 

Sin is deceitful. It will deceive you into thinking that good is evil and evil is good. Because we all have blind spots that can wreck our faith, we need the godly perspective of Christian fellowship. There is so much evil in us that still needs to be worked out that we need other believers to exhort us do right every day. Hebrews 10:24-25 says, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

Deliver Us from Evil Around Us. 

The Bible speaks of evil in two ways: moral evil and physical evil. Moral evil is wicked thought, intent, and behavior. It is sin and sinfulness. Physical evil is not so much about the bad things you may do. It is about the bad things that happen to you. There is an area of apologetics called Theodicy that addresses the problem of evil. If God is good and all-powerful, why do bad things happen? Many people cannot believe or stop believing, because they cannot accept the answers scripture gives to the problem of evil.  

After his son died of a rare aging disease, Harold Kushner wrote When Bad Things Happen to Good People. Unfortunately, Kushner gave the wrong answer. In fact, the question itself is a bit misleading. It implies that good people, whoever they are, are exempt from experiencing bad things. That’s not true. Job 5:7 says, “But man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward.” Job 14:1 says, “Man who is born of a woman is few of days and full of trouble.” Bad things do not happen to good people. They happen to all people. God only had one child who lived in this world without sin – Jesus. God has no children who live in this world without suffering – including Jesus! 

The answer to moral evil is also the answer to physical evil. In Acts 2:23-24, Peter preached: “This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.” Calvary was man at his worst, but God at his best. God took the most evil act in history – the murder of Jesus – and used it to purchase the salvation of all who repent and believe in Christ. If God can work good through the evil of Calvary, he can work good through the evils of poverty, violence, racism, injustice, war, and terrorism. 

In high school, I rode the city bus home from school. I was often in danger of missing my stop because my eyes were closed. I was not sleeping. But my eyes were closed because my father taught me that if a woman is standing, offer her your seat. My selfish logic reasoned that if I did not see a woman standing, I did not have to give her my seat. 

The Lord’s Prayer does not permit followers of Jesus Christ to ride home with their eyes closed! To pray “Deliver us from evil” is to acknowledge the reality of evil. It is to stand for what is good, right, and just. We cannot defeat evil activities, systems, and institutions. But we refuse to give up the fight. Romans 12:21 says, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” But we do not take matters into our own hands. We leave it in the hands of God.

In Genesis 50:19-20, Joseph said to his brothers who had done evil to him, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? And for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.” What God did for Joseph; God will do for all who trust in Jesus. Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”The overruling confidence of God can deliver you from evil. In Psalm 23:4, David sings, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”

Deliver Us from Evil Beyond Us.

In 1 Samuel 28, King Saul sought out psychic help to hear from God. Saul had outlawed all mediums. In his desperation, he visited a witch in Endor. People believed she talked to the spirits of the dead. She was a charlatan, who laughed all the way to the bank. Saul asked her to call up Samuel, the dead prophet of God. The old woman got out her bag of tricks. Then, to her horror, Samuel appeared! The witch screamed! You would have too. It had to be traumatic to have her presuppositions shattered so quickly, to be confronted with a reality she could not explain. 

Likewise, Christians today are often devasted, because we disregard the biblical teaching truth about nature, schemes, and power of Satan. In the NKJV, Matthew 6:13 reads, “And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” This is a literal and legitimate translation of the petition. It may be the best way to read it. Evil is not a passive, random, or meaningless acts. The evil one is the source of all evil. 1 Peter 5:8 says, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” The devil is not a figure in a red suit with horns, a tail, and a pitchfork. He is a roaring lion that seeks to devour your faith in God, love for God, and devotion to God.  

• The evil one attacks bodies. 
• The evil one deceives minds. 
• The evil one causes persecution. 
• The evil one controls politicians. 
• The evil one divides relationships. 
• The evil one hinders ministries. 
• The evil one undermines faith. 

Ephesians 6:11-12 says, “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” Satan has an invisible, organized, and powerful army of fallen angels he has dispatched to carry out his evil agenda in the world. We are no match for demons, much less Satan himself. But God is able to deliver us from evil. 

James 4:7 is a crash course in spiritual warfare: “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Submit yourself to God. When the devil’s schemes become hard to resist, pray, “Deliver us from evil,” and he will flee from you. 

Restraining prayer, we cease to fight; 
Prayer keeps the Christian's armor bright; 
And Satan trembles when he sees
The weakest saint upon his knees. 

We think and talk as if God and Satan are equals. They are not. God is omnipresent. He is fully present everywhere. Satan is not. God is omniscient. He knows all things known, unknown, and knowable. Satan does not. God is omnipotent. He has absolute power over all creation. Satan does not. Satan is not God’s peer. Martin Luther said, “The devil is God’s devil.” Here are the three things you need to know about Satan: 

• Satan is real. 
• Satan is powerful. 
• Satan is defeated. 

Romans 16:20 says, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.” 2 Thessalonians 3:3 says, “But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.” Revelation 12:11 says, “And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.” 

By the blood of Christ, we can pray with confidence that our heavenly Father will deliver us from the evil one. This familiar ending of The Lord’s Prayer may not be in the original text. Yet it is true: “For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.” 2 Timothy 4:18 says, “The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”

I heard an old, old story, how a Savior came from glory 
How he gave His life on Calvary to save a wretch like me
I heard about His groaning, of His precious blood's atoning 
Then I repented of my sins and won the victory

Oh victory in Jesus, my Savior forever
He sought me and bought me with His redeemed blood
He loved me 'ere I knew Him, and all my love is due Him 
He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood