And do not lead us into temptation but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen].  Matthew 6:13 NASB

You may recall this scripture as being a part of a prayer that is commonly called the Lord’s Prayer, this is the example or a model that Jesus gave when he was teaching His disciples to pray. These words were never more important than they are today. There is evil all around us. People are committing heinous crimes against others. Mass shootings have become common place. We see entire groups that hate others. We need God’s protection now more than ever. A mere mortal can’t always protect us from the evil that exists in today’s world. We need the supernatural protection that only God can provide.

Law enforcement gives employees a front row seat to evil. Each day or night, whichever the case may be before my husband leaves for work, he and I pray for his safety and the safety of his co-workers. My stepson works the opposite rotation so, on the days my husband is off, we pray for his and his co-workers safety. We ask God to form a hedge of protection around them and keep them safe from evil.

The first part of our scripture passage says, “lead us not into temptation”.  One thing the Bible is very clear about is that God never tempts us.  Satan tempts us but can only tempt us as far as God will allow it. The book of Job illustrates this in the first chapter. I could probably do an entire blog on this, but just know that temptation does not come from God.

When we are confronted with evil, when someone launches an all out attack against us, that is easy to see and easy to understand. But often times evil uses the sneak attack. Evil pretends to befriend us and it becomes an inside job. People pretend to be our friends, they pretend to care about us and we realize that they are only looking out for themselves and care nothing about us.

There are a few critical things I want you to know about the evil that exists today. The first thing I want you to know is that no matter how strong or how tough you are, you are unable to win the fight against it on your own. Ephesians 6:12 tells us that our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the powers, the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Evil comes from the devil. If you try to battle the devil on your own, you will never succeed. The heavenly places refers to those places where Christians are and where the devil tries to slip in and conquer and destroy them. It can mean the Christian mind, home, and yes even our churches. Peter 5:8 tells us that the devil is prowling around like a lion seeking to devour. He is looking for any crack in your armor that will allow him to come in and take control. Know who your enemy is, it’s not the person who betrayed you, it’s not your boss, it’s not the person who stole from you, it’s the devil working through these people.

The only sure protection you can have against this evil is God. God will protect you if you choose to align yourself with Him (Psalm 91:1-2). I spoke yesterday about how if we keep our focus on God, He will take care of everything else including protecting us from evil.

The other thing that you need to know is that evil exists and will continue to exists until we get to heaven where there is no evil. You will either be a part of it, meaning you will perpetrate evil or become a victim of it, or you will be protected from it by your Lord and Savior. You must choose.

Now one important thing I must mention here is that when we align ourselves with Christ and live our lives trying to imitate Him, the devil is going to attack, but we must not be afraid, we must stand firm and remember to suit up with the armor that is discussed in Ephesians 6:10-18. Suit up, but remember the battle is the Lords, we only need to stand firm and watch Him work. (2 Chronicles 20).

Another thing we must consider is our children. As they grow up in a world that is becoming increasingly evil, we must teach them how to be protected. Raise them up in a good, God fearing, Bible teaching church with the support of a loving church family. Teach them to pray and read their bible daily. Teach them to obey God’s commandments. When you don’t raise them up according to God’s word, you leave them wide open to evil.

But the most important thing that you must know is that this prayer offers us protection. When we ask God to deliver us from evil, He can do just that.

Just the other day our pastor said that sin begins in the mind. It is a thought before we put it into action, right? This is why it is so important to pray and read our Bible and be in constant communication with God. Trust in Him. And as we discussed yesterday, keep your focus on Him.  Allow Him to protect you and deliver you from evil. He wants to, but will not force you to allow Him to. So today choose to allow Him to protect you from evil.

Have a great day!