“…But deliver us from evil.” – Matthew 6:13

Ours is an imperfect world – flawed, and permeated by sin and evil.

It has been that way since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden.

Man’s disobedience to God’s command led to the handing over of his authority and dominion to the devil – leading to suffering, pain, and injustice in our world.

But when our Lord Jesus offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice on the Cross of Calvary, He completely defeated and disarmed the devil, along with all his principalities and powers and triumphed over them.

So, as far as the Church is concerned, the devil is powerless!

Why then, someone could ask, did Jesus teach believers to pray to God to “deliver us from the evil one”? (NKJV).

Well, this petition is basically asking God for protection and deliverance from the accusations of the evil one against us. 

The Greek word used may be used to convey the idea of evil, wickedness, or malevolence.

The ‘evil one’ is related to ‘slanderer’ – the ‘accuser of the brethren,’ who relentlessly accuses believers before God, exploiting their weaknesses and failures to discredit their faith and salvation.

By highlighting the believer’s sins and shortcomings, the ‘evil one’ aims to create doubt in the mind about God’s love and forgiveness, fostering feelings of guilt, shame, and unworthiness.

A good example of God’s deliverance from the ‘accuser’ is in Zechariah 3:1-2 (NIV):

“Then He showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. The Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?”

That’s why the apostle Peter called for sobriety in the believers in regard to the ‘accuser.’

Quit thinking that your greatest adversary are the evil spirits or demons out there; it’s the nefarious lies of the devil in your mind, which you must deal with by constantly renewing your mind through His Word in regard to Christ’s finished work on the Cross.

1 Peter 5:8-9 (AMP) says; “Be sober [well balanced and self-disciplined], be alert and cautious at all times. That enemy of yours, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion [fiercely hungry], seeking someone to devour. But resist him, be firm in your faith [against his attack–rooted, established, immovable]…”

Our role is to be sober and alert to resist the devil’s ‘wiles’; God’s responsibility is to deliver His children from the adversary’s accusations.

As we saw in the previous meditation on ‘Temptation,’ verses 12-15 are related and temptation has a connection to the ‘evil one.’ 

I shudder when I see believers toiling for days, weeks and years ‘in spiritual warfare’ – ‘fighting’ against ‘ancestral spirits,’ ‘generational curses,’ witchcraft, condemnation, etc, yet what they should be doing is thanking God for the deliverance from the devil’s accusations and sobering up their minds to fend off the wiles of the enemy against their mind!

One of the most-quoted scriptures to validate the teaching about ‘spiritual warfare’ is 2 Cor. 10:3-6.

Yet, this is what it says in the Living Bible translation:

“We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. And after you have become fully obedient, we will punish everyone who remains disobedient.”

So, just quit thinking that your greatest adversary are the evil spirits or demons out there; it’s the nefarious lies of the devil in your mind, which you must deal with by constantly renewing your mind through His Word in regard to Christ’s finished work on the Cross. Amen.