Learning How To Pray Pt. 9 Jesus Said We Must Pray For Deliverance From Evil

We have been hearing Jesus Christ as He teaches us about prayer. 

He showed that we must not be pretentious when we pray because hypocrisy is offensive to God. 

He taught us to pray privately by entering our prayer closet (a secluded spot) when we pray. Why? So that our prayer is centered on God and not a public display of prayer, like the Pharisees did. So that we are away from distractions that compete for our attention.

He taught us to be careful with the words we use when praying, for some people in that day, used vain repetitions. That is to say, they prayed the same words or phrases over and over. 

Jesus then taught us three prayer requests that focus on the Father, and advancing His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.

Now, our Lord is teaching us four petitions that speak to our own needs as individual Christians. We need daily bread. We need to seek the Father's forgiveness when we sin and we need to forgive those who wrong us. 

In our last post we studied about what Jesus meant when He said we must pray to not be led into temptation. Today, we look at the last of these four petitions that address our spiritual needs. 

Deliver us from evil.

Matthew 6:9-13  After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10)  Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11)  Give us this day our daily bread. 12)  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13)  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. 

The last petition is that we be delivered from evil. This is a two fold prayer requesting that the Father deliver us from the evil one, Satan, and that He deliver us from all evil works and corrupting cultural trends.

The wicked one who catches away the word of God being preached. 

Matthew 13:18,19  Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. 19)  When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side. 

Mark 4:14,15  The sower soweth the word. 15)  And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts. 

We are familiar with the Parable of the Sower and the Seed taught by Jesus in Matthew 13. You can find a detailed study of His parables in the archive indexes posted September 7, 2022.

Jesus taught about a Sower who went into a field that was prepared for planting. He sowed good seed. Jesus taught that there were four types of soil that the seed fell on. Three of the soils were non productive but the last soil was good ground that yielded an abundant harvest.

Jesus said that the seed being sown by the Sower was the word of God.  Each soil type represents how people respond to hearing the word of God.

The first soil type is the way-side soil where crows immediately devoured the seed as it was sown. 

Jesus explained what this parable signified. The seed is the word of God. When a person receives the word of God but does not readily understand it, then crows swoop in to consume all the seed. 

The fowls that devour the seed represents the wicked one, who snatches away that seed away from a person's heart, so that they cannot respond to the gospel. 

The idea is that as soon as this wicked one observes someone not understanding the scriptures (like the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8), then he eagerly pounces to seize the word and carry it out of that person's mind. 

The parallel passage in Mark's gospel makes it abundantly clear who the wicked one is. It is Satan who snatches away the word of God from a hearer's heart, while it is being preached or taught. 

Thus, our prayer to be delivered from evil includes being delivered from the evil one, Satan. 

We may be praying for the entrance of God's word to give light and understanding to a loved one who is not born again, and not ready for eternity. 

We must pray for their deliverance, and for the deliverance of our children from the evil deceptions of the Devil. 

We must pray that we will also daily be delivered from evil attacks by the wicked one. He hates Christians and wants to destroy our families and ruin our marriages. 

A wicked one who sows tares in with the good wheat.

Matthew 13:24-30  Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: 25)  But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. 26)  But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. 27)  So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? 28)  He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? 29)  But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. 30)  Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.  

Jesus taught the parable of the Wheat and the Tares as a way of explaining what the age of the church would look like. 

Now the parable is to teach us about the present and future state of the kingdom of heaven. It addresses the state of Christ's church and His care of it. It demonstrates the devil's enmity against it, and the unholy mixture in Christ's church of good and bad people.

The phrase "when men slept" is important. The men to whom the wheat (children of God) is entrusted are Pastors, teachers, evangelists and lay leaders. 

These men failed to diligently, faithfully and consistently preach the word in season and out of season (See 2 Timothy 4:2). They did not rebuke error and correct God's children. 

They failed at their duties to be God's watchmen on the wall warning people about the incoming enemy (See Ezekiel 33:1-10). 

This has been the state of the church in America for several decades. Praise God that there are still some faithful ministers of the word of God, who preach the truth and do not concern themselves with the fear of man. 

While these men spiritually slumbered and neglected their great duties to God, the enemy sneaked in and sowed tares.

In the parable, the servant alerted the landowner about the tares that grew up in his fields. He told them to let both wheat and tares grow until the time of harvest. 

The wheat would be gathered into his barns but the tares would be gathered and burned. 

Satan is the enemy who planted tares in Christ's church. 

Matthew 13:37-40 He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; 38)  The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; 39)  The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. 40)  As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. 

Using another parable, Jesus taught about the wheat and the tares. We are all familiar with the appearance of wheat as it grows and ripens in farmer's fields. 

What about "tares"? A "tare" is also known as the bearded darnel plant. It mimics wheat. It looks like wheat all the way until near harvest time. Then it turns black and the seeds are poisonous to humans. 

Jesus Christ is the one sowing good seed and the good seed He sows are the children of God. This is a picture of His church. 

The Devil is His enemy who plants "tares" in each church. Tares are the children of the Devil. 

These are people who may look and act like Christians, but they are not born again. They have no evidence of the scriptures taking root and bearing fruit in their lives. 

Just as a tare turns black, so the human tares in Christ's church sow discord and division among the brethren. They stir up trouble and spread gossip. 

They actively subvert the work God is doing in a local church. Their deeds are evil and this is why they are compared to tares that turn black. 

Worse, tares are poisonous to humans. The Devil's tares planted in local churches will try to seduce others into a state of discontentment. 

They will malign the character of true believers in Christ and cause many problems within each church. they try to infect others with their poisonous acts. 

At the end of the world, Jesus will send forth His holy angels into the harvest of souls and they will bring all the children of God home to heaven. 

However, all the children of the wicked one, will be gathered to the Great White Throne judgment and cast into an eternally burning Hell. 

Satan watches for any opportunities, and seizes them in order to plant tares and pollute the church of Christ. When a pastor, teacher, deacon, elder or lay leader is sleeping then Satan will sow tares into the wheat. 

How tares sow discord and causes trouble in the church. 

2 Timothy 4:14-18  Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works: 15)  Of whom be thou ware also; for he hath greatly withstood our words. 16)  At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge. 17)  Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. 18)  And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. 

God included a vivid example involving the apostle Paul and a man who certainly qualified as a "tare." Alexander the coppersmith was a fierce opponent of Paul's ministry. 

Alexander was one of the men mentioned by Paul in his first letter to Timothy. Alexander was among those who made a shipwreck of their faith. He chose to flagrantly sin against God without remorse. 

Paul used his apostolic authority to deliver that man to Satan for the destruction of his flesh (See 1 Timothy 1:18-20).

In his second letter to Timothy, it seems that this man's black heart really was exposed. He did many evil things to Paul and the apostle warned Timothy to be on guard against Alexander.

This situation involving Alexander was so intense that all men at that church deserted Paul. But, the Lord Jesus Christ stood by His apostle, strengthening and delivering him from Alexander's wickedness. 

Notice Paul's prayer because it relates to praying that we be delivered from evil. Paul said that Jesus would deliver him from every evil work. This is what Jesus meant when He instructed us to pray that we be delivered from evil.

Thoughts to Ponder...

Jesus taught us this last petition for good reason. We face an active enemy who hates God and wants to destroy those who live out their trust in Jesus Christ. 

Thus, praying to be delivered from evil is twofold. We must be delivered from that evil one, the Devil. And we must be delivered from the tares who do evil work in Christ's church.

I am confident that any Bible believing, Christ exalting church is experiencing these things right now. Satan does not care about a church that has compromised with the world. He does not care about believers who have lukewarm faith or who live for the world. 

He does care about those who seek the kingdom of God first. He hates those who worship Jehovah in Spirit and in truth. 

He hates pastors who faithfully preach the word, in season and out of season. He hates parents who teach their children about the ways of God. 

Remember what the Devil does. He will try to remove the word from someone who hears but does not yet understand it. He will cause distractions so that he can snatch the word away from their hearts.

He also sneaks into churches where pastors or lay leaders are not being vigilant, and he sows tare. He plants lookalike Christians in a church, but they bear no fruit for the word never took root in their hearts. 

These are the very important reasons why we must pray the way that Jesus taught us to do.

Bob