Tag: evil one

Deliver Us from Evil

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date June 25, 2023

Once We Pray This, Our Part Is to Stay Away from It

When Jesus’s disciples ask him how to pray, he gives a concise example to follow. One of the phrases in this short prayer is to deliver us from evil.

We commonly call this prayer from Jesus the Lord’s Prayer (or the Our Father, based on the opening line; Matthew 6:9-13) but a better label would be the Disciples’ Prayer. It is, after all, the prayer Jesus gave to his followers.

Evil

Some version of the Bible say, “the evil one,” but the most common rendering is more inclusive and simply says “evil.”

From this we see that Jesus advises us to pray that God will keep us from the evil in the world around us. This is the physical evil that confronts us from other people. It also refers to the evil one, which is Satan, along with his minions. This reflects supernatural evil (1 John 5:19).

We need to guard against both. The prayer Jesus gives his disciples addresses worldly evil and supernatural evil.

Deliver Us

Consider the verb deliver. The action word of deliver is also the most common. To expand our understanding, we can consider other versions of the Bible. Some translations use rescue, keep, save, and protect.

All these verbs reflect our desire for God to shield us from evil and hold it at a distance.

Deliver Us from Evil

Depending on our faith practices and traditions, we may say this prayer that Jesus gave us each day, recite it in unison at church services, or use it as a model to inform our own prayers. Or we may largely ignore it.

Regardless, we all share a desire that God will deliver us from evil.

Our Part

Yet do we cooperate with God in our prayer that he will deliver us from evil? Think about it. Do we live a life close to evil or do we pursue a lifestyle of holiness that keeps evil far away?

We should consider the movies and TV shows we watch and the music we listen to. There are also the people we hang out with and the places we go. These can all serve to soften our view on evil and condition us to accept it.

Alternately these can encourage us to recognize evil influences in our world and to stay away from them. Though we shouldn’t isolate ourselves, we must take care that we influence the world for God, and not let it influence us to dishonor him.

We should also look at our priorities. These reflect our heart and our devotion. Some might call these our idols. Our priorities—our idols—may include our job, accumulating money, and our hobbies and pastimes.

Though well meaning, we can even elevate family to an unhealthy level that opens us to compromising in other areas of our life. This makes us susceptible to evil.

When We Pray

We’re wise to ask God to deliver us from evil. And we can have confidence that he will. Yet we’re also wise to align our attitudes and actions with this request, to do our part to stay away from evil in the first place.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

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Tags evil one, Lord’s Prayer, prayer

Bible Insights

Protection From the Evil One

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date November 8, 2022

Protection From the Evil One

To the Thessalonians Paul writes that God will strengthen and protect them from the evil one. He will give them protection from evil.

This excites and comforts me, because I want to be protected.

But that’s only half the of the promise. The other part is that we will be strengthened.

To be protected is passive. It is easy and safe.

To be strengthened is more active. It reminds us that we will undergo trials, temptations, and attacks from the enemy—and for this, we will be made strong in order to withstand it.

Standing strong is not easy or safe. It is hard and risky. But we don’t need to endure it alone, for God gives us the strength we need and protection from evil.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is 1 Thessalonians 1-3, and today’s post is on 1 Thessalonians 3:3.]

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Tags evil one, Jesus, Paul

Bible Insights

Let’s Not Forget Who’s in Charge

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date December 28, 2021

Good and Evil are Not Equal and Opposite Forces

In Revelation we read about the dragon and the beast, a great battle, and the tribulation the whole world faces.

The Beast

Embedded in the middle of this epic tale, we see a curious revelation. John writes that the beast is given power to wage war against God’s people that he created.

John says the beast is given authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation (Revelation 13:7).

Who gave the beast his power and authority?

God.

If God can grant the beast power and authority over the world and all creation, then that means God is more powerful than the beast and the forces of evil.

Think about this.

Contrary to what many people think, God and Satan do not exist as equal players in the age-old war of good versus evil. God is superior to Satan. God created Satan, albeit for good.

Satan, in his pride, rebelled against God and has fought him ever since.

You see, the battle isn’t fair. God has the upper hand. Satan functions within the limits God places on him.

The Final Battle: God Wins; Satan Loses

That means in the final battle, we already know the winner. The victory goes to God. Satan loses. Big time.

If we’re on God’s team, we’re on the winning side. And for those who follow the enemy, they’ll lose along with him.

God’s in charge. God is more powerful then evil. Let’s not forget that. When we go with God, we go with the winner.

To him be the honor, and the glory, and the power, forever and ever. Amen.

[Read through the Bible this year. Today’s reading is Revelation 13-16, and today’s post is on Revelation 13:7.]

Read more in Peter’s devotional Bible study, A New Heaven and a New Earth: 40 Practical Insights from John’s Book of Revelation.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Tags evil one, glory, God, omnipotent, pride

Christian Living

Deliver Us from Evil

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date April 11, 2021

Pray That God Will Protect Us from Harm

Do you ever ask God to protect you from evil? You can. It’s biblical. It’s part of my morning routine, and based on what I’m about to share, I want to be more intentional about making this request each day.

There are two key prayers in the Bible that offer scriptural support for asking God to deliver us from evil.

The Lord’s Prayer

What we commonly refer to as the Lord’s Prayer—because it came from Jesus, our Lord—we should more appropriately call the disciple’s prayer—because it’s for his disciples, and for us.

This stands as the most significant prayer in the Bible. First, because Jesus taught it. Second, because he gave it to us as a model to follow.

Consider the line in Matthew 6:13 from this prayer. In most translations, it says “deliver us from the evil one,” or simply “deliver us from evil.” Some versions use the word rescue, save, or free, but deliver is the most common translation.

Jesus gave us this prayer is a model to use, so we should follow it and pray that he will deliver us from evil.

The Prayer of Jabez

Another biblical prayer that I find significant is the lesser-known prayer of Jabez. (There’s even a book written about it.) Aside from the Lord’s Prayer, I call Jabez’s prayer my favorite prayer in the Bible.

Why is this? Because after Jabez prays, Scripture records God’s response. It says that God granted his request.

This means that God accepted Jabez’s petition and answered his prayer. Oh, how this encourages me when I pray.

One line in Jabez’s prayer is that God would “keep me from evil” 1 Chronicles 4:10). Though some translations use the word harm or pain instead of evil, most say evil.

Two Prayers to Deliver Us from Evil

It should be enough that Jesus tells us to ask God to deliver us from evil. But the Bible gives us a second example through Jabez, along with God’s confirmation that he answered Jabez’s prayer when he asked for the same thing.

This should encourage us that when we ask God to keep and deliver us from evil, he will do just that.

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Tags evil one, Lord’s Prayer, pray, Prayer of Jabez

Christian Living

Satan Is Not on a Par with God

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date May 26, 2019

In the Ultimate Battle Between Good and Evil, the Winner Is Clear

For the first part of my life I assumed God and Satan were equal yet opposite forces.

I picked up this inaccurate image from culture, starting with the old cartoons of the devil sitting on one shoulder whispering bad advice into a person’s ear, with God sitting on the other shoulder whispering good.

In my memory (which may be faulty), the cartoon character, after vacillating between conflicting instructions, followed the more appealing temptation of the devil. With a smile, the cartoon character went down the evil path and did wrong.

Yes, there were consequences, but what stuck with me was this conflict between good and evil, God and the devil on equal footing, with Satan too often prevailing.

Discover What Satan Can and Can’t Do

This, of course, is wrong. Satan is not an equal to God. The devil is less than God, much less.

First, Satan is an angel, albeit a fallen one. God created angels, just as he created you and me. The creator has power over his creation. This confirms that God has power over his angels, including fallen angels.

Yes, the devil, also known as Lucifer, may have been a higher angel, an Archangel like Michael, but this is speculation. Regardless of Satan’s original angel status, he has limits. God doesn’t.

God is present everywhere. He is omnipresent. Satan is not. He can only be in one place at a time.

God knows all things. He is omniscient. Satan is not. His knowledge of the future has limits.

God is all-powerful. He is omnipotent. Satan is not. True, the devil does have angelic power, but his power isn’t all-encompassing. There are things he can do and things he can’t do.

He’s limited. We must remember that.

God Will Prevail for All Eternity

If we’re on God’s side, we’re on the winning side. If we follow Satan and obey him, we’ll find ourselves on the losing side. And we will lose for all eternity.

Some people quake in fear at the power of the devil, but they would do better to quake at the all-powerful God who created him.

In the end, the final score will be God 1, Satan 0.

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Tags evil one, God, good or evil

Bible Insights

Jabez Asks God: Keep Me From Evil

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date November 4, 2009

The fourth line in Jabez’s prayer is: “that you would keep me from evil”

If this request sounds vaguely familiar, there is good reason. In the best known prayer in the Bible, often called “The Lord’s Prayer,” there is the line “deliver us from the evil one.”

Just as Jesus taught his followers to pray, Jabez is doing the same, asking for protection from the attacks of the devil.

Remember that Jabez has just asked for more blessings to bless others and for more opportunities to help others. The devil, opposing both those initiatives, will go after anyone attempting to do so.

This is why Jabez next asked for God’s help, following it with this request for protection.

[Read more on The Prayer of Jabez; 1 Chronicles 4:9-10 NKJV, Matthew 6:13 NIV]

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Tags evil one, prayer, Prayer of Jabez