Last Saturday, in The Perfect Prayer, Part 8, we saw that in order to overcome temptation, we first need to acknowledge that we cannot overcome temptation on our own; we need to recognize that it is God only who can keep us out of temptation; and we need to put our trust in His ability to guide our feet in the way they should go.
But “Do not lead us into temptation…” is only half of the last verse of Jesus’ Perfect Prayer. It goes on to say, “…but deliver us from evil.” (Matthew 6:13b NASB). What is the difference between this and the first half?
I personally like to look at it like this: In my walk through life I encounter many temptations. Recognizing and acknowledging this and relying upon God to deliver us from it is, as we saw last week, vital. But what about the traps I’m already caught up in? I mean, it would be nice to say all I need to worry about is avoiding falling into temptation. But this just isn’t true! I am often riddled with worry, intemperance, unforgiveness, taking offense, etc.
I know I’m not alone in this, for what I’m talking about here is nothing more than our sinful human natures. Nothing illustrates this concept of human nature and our need to get rid of it more than the story of Lazarus. The Bible records that Lazarus came out of the tomb, “…bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth.” (John 11:44a NASB). Friends. giving our hearts to Jesus doesn’t suddenly make all of our old sinful natures disappear!
We can’t take this as an excuse to stay in our sin, however. We are clearly told to rid ourselves of these things off: “in reference to your former way of life, you are to rid yourselves of the old self…” (Ephesians 4:22 NASB).
I don’t know about you, but this is easier said than done. The good news is, we aren’t expected to do it alone. When Lazarus came out of the tomb, Jesus made this abundantly clear: “Unbind him, and let him go.” (John 11:44b NASB). He was, of course, saying this to the onlookers, and this speaks volumes as to our responsibility to one another. Not only are we to rid ourselves of our own human natures, but we are to help our fellow brothers and sisters to be free of their “burial clothes” as well.
As we all know from experience, however, that it isn’t easy to give up the sins of our human natures, nor is it easy to help someone else be free. We must first see the need to be free, and this requires learning to hate the besetting sins, having the desire in our hearts to be free, and being willing to either throw off the “burial cloths” ourselves or to allow someone else to help us with this.
This is why Jesus included this line in the perfect prayer. Of our own, we can’t be free of the traps we are ensnared in; but when we pray, “…but deliver us from evil”, we are asking God to show us the parts of our human nature that He wants to heal, to help us to hate that sin in our lives, to put the desire in our hearts to be free, and to free us from the besetting sins of our former lives!
But does this line go a step farther? I mean the Bible does say “evil” and not “sin”.
Some English version translate this as “the evil one” (See Matthew 6:13 NIV). We all know that temptation and sin are not the only weapons the evil one uses against us. He also uses hard times, troubles of various sorts, including death, accidents, illnesses, etc. This poignant line in Jesus’ perfect prayer is asking God to protect us and deliver us from any attack of the devil!
In summary then, this little line finds itself in the perfect prayer because we need deliverance from the devil’s traps! This reminds us that we need to be delivered from the sins of our human nature, and it reminds us that God protects us from harm. I encourage each of you during this upcoming week to continue praying the Lord’s Prayer daily. This week, however, spend special time meditating on this one line: “…but deliver us from evil.” Ask God to protect you from all of the devil’s traps, and especially to reveal to you the parts of your sinful nature He wants to help free you of. Ask Him to help you hate that sinful trait, to want to be free, and to give you the freedom He has for you. Then make a statement of faith that God can and will deliver you from all evil: “…but deliver us from evil.” When you do, you will begin to hate the besetting sins and to desire to be free. Slowly but surely you will see those “burial clothes” – those addictions and those ugly parts of your human nature — begin to fall away. You will begin to notice God’s hand of protection upon you!
And this, friends, brings us to the end of Jesus’ perfect prayer, as it was recorded in Matthew 6. If you are of the older school, however, as I am, you learned yet another line to this prayer, one that interestingly doesn’t appear in the original text, and as a result, it doesn’t appear in most English translations… Does this traditional “tail” to the perfect prayer warrant looking into? Does it warrant actually … praying this line? Join us next Saturday: “For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory: The Perfect Prayer, Part 10.”
In His love,
Lyn
Lynona Gordon Chaffart
Moderator, Author, Acting Director, Answers2Prayer Ministries
(To access the entire published portion of “The Perfect Prayer” mini-series, please click here!)
