Prayer for Protection

Matthew 6:13 “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.”

As our Friday evening small group Bible study came to the final elements of “Prayer”, we tackled the problem of “evil” in the world. In today’s society, the concept of deliverance may seem a little odd and rarely used in prayer. Have you ever heard people say that “evil” is a strong word, and should be avoided. I’ve even heard someone say that there really aren’t any “evil” people; they are just “confused”. You can call it something nicer, but evil is pure sin. In this age of tolerance and moral relativism we may have lost sight of what Jesus prayed for us: “keep them from the evil one” in John 17:15. No matter how strong that we may think that we are or as much as any of us wishes that it wasn’t true, evil is real, there is wickedness in the world and we need to seek Divine deliverance from temptation and for protection from the evil that exists in this world. Jesus instructs us in Matthew 26:41 “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” We may be told that everything is just a mind-over-matter or power of positive thinking issue, but spiritual evil requires Divine protection because the flesh is weak. It’s not about how big we are, but how big is our God. It’s not about depending on ourselves, but depending upon God.

1 Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.”

Though we pray for a hedge of protection, the Lord may allow temptations, not for our failure, but for our endurance and growth under His protection. It is unreasonable to think that all evil will be kept from us. In Jesus’ prayer for us in John 16:33 & 17: 14-19, he confirms this. As our Lord was a light hated by darkness, so are we in this world of sin and unbelief. Also, the Devil is real and called the “Tempter” (Matt. 4:3 & 1 Thessalonians 5:3), and if he tempted Jesus, then he’ll tempt us also. The enemy of our soul, Satan, hates us and has a terrible plan for our life, because Jesus tells us in John 10:10 that “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." We need to take the devil, the god-rejecting world system and our own fleshly desires seriously because we know that the fallen sin nature of the flesh in every person is easily tempted this side of heaven, so we must live and walk in the Spirit – Galatians 5:16-25. As Paul tells us in Romans 12:21,“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

1 Chronicles 4:10 “Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain!” And God granted what he asked.”

I remember in the Bruce Wilkinson book and Bible Study of the Prayer of Jabez (above) stated that in the “that you would keep me from harm” portion of that prayer, we need to thank the Lord for the hedge of protection that He places around us, for the evil that we never see, which God keeps from us and we are never aware. I had never thought of that before and humbling to realize. Our protection comes from knowing and crying out to the one true God, our heavenly Father, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, that we have a restored personal relationship with because of the atoning redemption by our Savior Jesus Christ. He promised to be with us always. Only one question remains: Do you pray?

In Christ, Brian