…LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION, BUT DELIVER US FROM THE EVIL ONE. MATTHEW 6:13
When Jesus taught us to pray ‘…lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one,’ He was teaching us to pray for His protection. Does satan have power? Look back. Haven’t you played into his hands more than once? His objective is to ‘…kill, steal and destroy…’ (John 10:10). But check out these words: ‘…God’s Spirit, who is in you, is greater than the devil, who is in the world’ (1John 4:4 NCV). God sent an urgent message to a first century church in Smyrna (part of Greece then – now part of Turkey), ‘Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer for ten days. But be faithful, even if you have to die, and I will give you the crown of life’ (Revelation 2:10 NCV). This is an amazing example of the way God allows certain things to happen because he knows the final outcome, God tells them how long the attack will last (‘ten days’), the reason for the attack (‘to test you’), and the outcome of the attack (‘a crown of life’). Every time satan tries to score – we win! When satan knocks us down, God picks us up. David, who’d experienced more than his fair share of attacks, writes, ‘The steps of the godly are directed by the Lord…Though they stumble, they will not fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand’ (Psalm 37:23-24 NLT). Jesus lets us know in this line of the prayer just how important it is for us to pray for protection. So pray today. Place your small hand into God’s big hand and face the problems of the day together.
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