20 Days With the Lord’s Prayer Day 14: He can rescue us from the devil.

“In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭9‬-‭13‬ ‭NKJV‬

The Apostle Paul had admonished the church at Corinth concerning a man within the church who was living a sinful lifestyle. Indeed, Paul had instructed them to punish him by removing their fellowship from him until he repented.

After some time it seems that the man did repent and get his life right. Paul then sends a new instruction to the church that they needed to forgive him to avoid Satan taking advantage of the situation, causing the man to be discouraged.

“Now, however, it is time to forgive and comfort him. Otherwise he may be overcome by discouragement. So I urge you now to reaffirm your love for him. so that Satan will not outsmart us. For we are familiar with his evil schemes.”

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭2‬:‭7‬-‭8‬, ‭11‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Notice, Paul references being familiar with Satan‘s evil schemes. We know that the devil’s schemes led to original Sin and the beginning of mankind’s woes. Make no mistake, he has not changed.

Praise God, through Jesus Christ, He has made a way for us to be changed so that we can overcome sin: the devil’s means of control.

As we discussed last time: Because Jesus lived a sinless life, then offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice, the price was paid for us to be free from the accusation against us by the accuser, by Satan. Yes, Jesus overcame the world, the flesh and the devil, so that we can share in His victory.

“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.””

‭‭John‬ ‭16‬:‭33‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Because Jesus did not sin, the Devil had nothing of which to accuse Him.

“I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.”

‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭30‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Again, by Jesus giving Himself to be the perfect sacrifice to God, His precious, perfect blood, neutralized Satan’s ability to accuse those who have accepted the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and who live a life of obedience to him.

“Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.”

‭‭John‬ ‭12‬:‭31‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

However, we know that Satan still tries to tempt even those who have accepted Jesus as Savior. Otherwise, we would not have needed the warnings concerning being aware of his deceit and staying far from the conditions that put us vulnerable to him to pull us into sin.

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.”

‭‭I Peter‬ ‭5‬:‭8‬-‭9‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

We cannot suppose that we are free from the penalty of sin if we are obeying Satan by constantly indulging in those things that displease the Lord. In such a case, although it’s no longer inevitable that we will be accused by Satan, we put ourselves back into a position of vulnerability to him. We put ourselves back into a position of being his slave, even though the Lord has set us free to live righteously before Him.

“Do you not know that when you continually offer yourselves to someone to do his will, you are the slaves of the one whom you obey, either [slaves] of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness (right standing with God)?”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭6‬:‭16‬ AMP

Last time we talked about the part of the Lord‘s Prayer where we are to ask the Lord to keep us out of temptation. Today we consider the rest of that statement: “But deliver us from the evil one.”

Child of God, the Lord will rescue us from the devil. In fact, He has already rescued us by cutting off Satan‘s power to accuse those who have accepted the sacrifice of Jesus Christ as the remedy for their sin. Let us not hand the controls of our life back over to Satan by living a lifestyle of sin. Let’s do as the Lord instructed and ask Him to deliver us from the evil one. Then, let’s make sure we stay close by Jesus’ side, so that we wander into temptation no longer.

Peace to you.

Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!