Deliver Us From Evil - Matthew 6:13 Series

Matthew 6:5-15 And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 "This, then, is how you should pray: "'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.' 14 For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Introduction

Do you feel like you are in deep trouble right now? Anybody here have a sense that you are in grave danger? If not, then you probably do not feel any great need to pray for protection. In today’s text Jesus is going to teach us to pray regularly to be rescued from a terrible threat. Whether we feel it or not, Jesus is telling us that the threat is there, and failing to run to God for protection is suicide.

We have been working our way through the Sermon on the Mount and we come this morning to the final request in the Lord’s Prayer. Now remember the structure of the Prayer. The first half is about God’s name and kingdom and will, and the second half is about our needs – provision (daily bread), then pardon (forgive us), and now protection: Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one. That structure helps us understand why we are praying for those personal needs. We ask for provision, pardon, and protection from evil all for the sake of His name and kingdom and will.

Psalm 25:11 For the sake of your name, O Lord, forgive my iniquity

We pray for forgiveness mainly for His sake – so His name will be honored when we are forgiven. And we pray for protection from temptation for the same reason.

Proverbs 30:8 give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. 9 Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the Lord?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.

He is saying, “Keep me from those temptations so I do not end up dishonoring Your name.” We look to God for provision, pardon, and protection because we desire, above all, His honor, kingdom, and will.

The Danger

Do not underestimate the danger

So if we care about God’s name we will run to Him for protection against evil – unless we do not see any significant threat. However dire the threat is in your mind – that is how hard you will pray and no harder. I think one of the biggest mistakes we make in the Christian life is our underestimation of the spiritual danger we are in. We are alert to physical dangers. You are alone in a dark alley surrounded by thugs in the middle of the night; you have a real sense of being in danger there. You cannot pay your bills – that gets you concerned. There is a seventy percent chance that your child has terminal cancer and you are waiting for the test results – you might send up a prayer or two then. But how concerned are we about the spiritual dangers out there? No matter how much financial trouble you are in – or medical trouble or whatever kind of temporal danger you are facing; it is nothing compared to the spiritual situation you are in at this very moment.

“Here’s some armor – you’ll need it!”

You and I are in a world of hurt spiritually. We are in grave danger. The Christian life is not a Disneyland ride where the Devil is like some plastic monster that roars at you through a speaker as your cart passes by on the track. We are in a real war with real casualties, and it is very possible that you or I could become one of those casualties.