Prayer as Spiritual Warfare
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Mat 6:9 Prayer as Worship
Mat 6:10 Prayer as Kingdom Partnership
Mat 6:11 Prayer as Petition
Mat 6:12 Prayer as Confession
Matthew 6:13 (NASB95)
13 ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Prayer as Spiritual Warfare
Every day we are tempted by the evil one, and every day we can find deliverance and victory.
The Bible is full of good news. Unfortunately, there’s also some bad news. The good news is that God has an eternal, divine plan, and He’s committed to unfolding and revealing that plan to us.
The bad news is that we have an enemy—the evil one, the devil—who is just as aggressively committed to tripping us up. He looks forward, every day, to the sabotaging of God and His plan. And we are always caught in the middle. However, because of what God has done through Christ, we are victorious.
The Bible tells us that the devil is like a roaring lion, prowling around seeking whom he can devour. He does this effectively by overwhelming us in all kinds of temptations. These are called “fiery darts” of the evil one, and they are common. That’s why Paul told us to “Be alert and of sober mind”. He is doing all he can to bring you down, trip you up, and defeat you. That’s his operational mission, and he will do it by any strategic means possible.
Jesus knew this, and that’s why He included a reminder to remain vigilant, on watch, alert, and engaged in the prayer He taught His disciples.
We need to ask the Lord to “lead us not into temptation.” Pray to withstand temptations.
Jesus knows that even those who have experienced forgiveness are tempted and can fall.
‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil”, follows immediately after the request, “Forgive us our debts.” This prayer was most likely answered and the sin forgiven. However, temptation can unexpectedly come to confront us all. But Jesus is our Savior. As it says in Hebrews 4:15
15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.
Know that God does not “tempt” us to do evil. The evil one uses temptations to attack us where we are weak and vulnerable. Therefore, we need to be aware of our weaknesses and vulnerabilities which are our desires. We should know if alcohol, drugs, pornography, sweet food, sparkly things or money are a weakness which would allow the evil one to tempt us to do wrong. 1 Tim 6:9-11 says:
9 But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction.
10 For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
11 But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.
So we should pray to be spared from temptations in these areas of weakness and vulnerability as we pursue righteousness. While God permits temptation, the devil is the one who promotes it. It is the agenda of the evil one to see us fall not God.
Know also that God will not allow us to be tempted more than we can withstand 1 Cor. 10:13 says:
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.
He promises that when we are tempted, it is not because He sends it but because He permits it and can allow for our limitations. He does allow us to pass through periods of testing that could lead to a temptation of “my will be done” rather than “Thy will be done.”
The Greek word peirasmos can mean both a temptation and a test or trial. These words are often used interchangeably in Scripture. God tests people to refine their faith, never to tempt them to do evil. We can see this in Genesis 22:1–18, Exodus 16:4, James 1:2, 13–15, and 1 Peter 1:7.
But what is a temptation, test or trial? Well, a:
Temp·ta·tion is the desire to do something, especially something wrong or unwise
Test is a procedure intended to establish the quality, performance, or reliability of something
Trial is a test of the performance, qualities, or suitability of someone or something
So for us a test and a trial truly are the same - a procedure to establish the quality of the individual in a certain scenario. In other words the quality of your personality is going to come out. Good or bad or maybe something in-between. This is something that God will do. He will test us to determine the quality of our personalities. 1 Peter 1:6-7 says:
6 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,
7 so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
On the other hand a temptation is something entirely different. God would never give us the desire to do something wrong or unwise. That isn’t in His nature. He allows the evil one to tempt us as a test of our character but He would not lead us to do evil. James 1:13-15
13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.
14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.
15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.
While a temptation is a test of our will, a trial is a test of our faith and trust in the Lord. But also know that a test or trial could result in succumbing to the temptation of trusting in ourselves. A temptation is a test, even though a test or trial is not always an invitation to do evil. (Need an illustration - a story to show the difference)
Once upon a time there was a small country church. This church had a man who was well known in the town and the church elected him as treasurer. He was very good at keeping track of the books and accounting for every penny that was given to the church. But one day he decided that he needed more for himself so he could retire. Seeing all the money coming into the church he realized that he could take some for himself and no one would ever know. So, he began to skim a bit off the top - all it took was a little bit of creative bookkeeping. No one would notice. He struggled against this temptation for a while but finally gave in. After 20 years of skimming a bit for himself he stepped down and went on his way. Even after a full audit of the books by the next treasurer the crime wasn’t discovered. He got away with it. Or did he?
He was tempted to do wrong by the evil one. This is a temptation because he wanted to do wrong. God did not lead him to steal from the church. He gave into the temptation which caused him to fail the test of his character. Perhaps he failed to pray about it, he certainly failed to resist because he skimmed the money off the top and he never stepped down from the position of authority when the temptation came upon him. This was a temptation of the evil one but also a test used by God to see how he would react to the temptation.
If the man were simply being tested, God would not have led him to do evil. The test would have checked his character only, perhaps by seeing how he would react to finding someone else doing wrong.
Something C.S. Lewis said points to temptation and how we respond.
“A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is... A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in.”
― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
When temptation is overcome and trials are successfully passed with God’s strength, we grow in Christian character. Ultimately, when we pray “lead us not into temptation,” we place our trust in the Lord’s hands. Therefore, there must be temptations that come to us that can be avoided if we pray in advance to keep clear of them. (Alcoholic stay away from bars or the friends that lead them into bars, or the recovering drug addict stays away from the people who lead them into using drugs and a pornography addict can keep keep wandering eyes away from inappropriate publications.)
Stuart Briscoe said, “Every temptation that comes your way is an opportunity to go wrong, but it also provides us with an opportunity to do right.” God can give us the wisdom to understand how we can do the right thing. Remember what 1 Cor 10:13 says: “but with the temptation will provide the way of escape.” That is the opportunity to do right. The way of escape. When in a tempting situation there will always be the wrong or unwise thing to do and the right or wise thing to do. Sometimes the wise thing to do isn’t always apparently evident. But, if we look for it, God will make the way of escape clear. When Joseph was tempted and pushed to do evil he took the way of escape Genesis 39:11-12 says:
11 Now it happened one day that he went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the household was there inside.
12 She caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me!” And he left his garment in her hand and fled, and went outside.
He left his garment in her hand and fled. The way of escape. Find it and take it, do the right thing.
We need to ask the Lord to “deliver us from evil.” Pray for the Lord’s protection.
When we pray “deliver us from evil”, we ask the Father to remain victorious in our lives.
What does it mean when we pray “deliver us from evil?” Well the Greek word rhyomai which is used in Matthew 6:13 means to rescue. Imagine yourself at the top of a 15 story building which is burning and you can’t get out. You can’t do it on your own there is no where to go. Suddenly there is someone there in the window telling you to take their hand. Your rescuer. That’s the one who we ask to deliver us from evil in this passage. We are asking God to be our rescuer from every evil situation that we may find ourselves in, on any given day. 2 Tim. 4:18 says:
18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
This verse points to the truth that the Lord will rescue us, from every evil deed. Not only that but he will carry us in the palm of His hand until He brings us safely to His heavenly kingdom. With so great a rescuer walking with us what do we have to fear?
We must also pray “deliver us from evil” because we are flesh and blood.
Heb. 2:14–18 says:
14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,
15 and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.
16 For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham.
17 Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
18 For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.
Flesh and blood. Most of the temptations we must deal with are due to our flesh and blood. The lust of our taste buds, our eyes, the touch of the skin and our greed. These things are targets for the evil one. The evil one will use these things to trip us up. We must pray that the Father will deliver us from this evil. Either He will keep the evil from coming upon us or He will rescue from the evil, He will provide that way of escape to keep us from failing and giving in to the temptation.
By asking God to deliver us from evil, we acknowledge that we are helpless by ourselves to follow Jesus on the path of righteousness that He modeled for us. So, how can we be delivered from evil? Consider Jesus’ mode of response when attacked in Matthew 4:1–11. In case you don’t know this is where Jesus is tempted by Satan to fall down and worship him. Three things Jesus did to avoid these temptations in accordance with Ephesians 6:11-17 were:
1. Jesus was led by and filled up with the Holy Spirit.
14 Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
2. Jesus relied on Scripture for His ready defense. Jesus resisted the devil’s temptations with the help of an accurate knowledge of Scripture, which is a powerful weapon to resist the devil’s temptations.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
3. Jesus was committed to fasting and prayer.
18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,
Every day, we can find ourselves confronted with all kinds of temptations, trials, or tests. The devil is the master of all of them. But Jesus is here directing us to place our trust in God’s hands so that He will guide us away from temptation and those things that will trip us up.
J. I. Packer wrote: “Whenever God tests us for our good, Satan, ‘the tempter,’ tries to exploit the situation for our ruin.”
Praying “deliver us from evil” is a recognition of our own limited abilities and a means of asking for God to step in and help us. The Son has granted us victory. We will then find ourselves victorious in Him as we live in Him and follow Him. That’s the good news.
Remember Brothers and Sisters we are at war. We are not at war with the world. We are at war with the darkness that covers this world. Eph 6:12 says:
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Our flesh and blood can not win this war. This war will be won by Christ Jesus, but we have a part to play in it. We pray. Prayer is spiritual warfare. We can put on the full armor of God and stand our ground against these spiritual forces of wickedness everyday. But if we don’t pray, we don’t advance. Our sword is the word of God but, our prayers are javelins that we launch through the heavenly places to do battle against the evil one and his minions.
We have the victory in Christ Jesus and we have overcome the world.
Questions to Consider:
• In what areas of your life is the enemy wearing you down so that you are less than victorious?
• In what areas of your life do you feel most vulnerable to the enemy’s attack?
• When temptations come your way, how can the armor of God help you fight the battle?
Remember:
4 You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.
Let’s advance the kingdom of light through Prayer which is spiritual warfare.
Pray - attack the darkness.