Ephesians 6:10-18

You can buy protection for your car, your home your appliances. Products are sold guaranteeing you protection. Homes have security systems that provide protection for you and your home possessions. The starship Enterprise had its force field for protection. Football players wear helmets, shoulder pads, knees, thigh pads and other kinds of pads for protection. The goal of these protective devices is to deliver you from pain, sorrow and loss.

You could say this is the goal of the Lord’s Prayer. The Lord’s Prayer is your security system.

When we pray the Lord’s Prayer we are worshiping God as our Holy Father. Our Holy Father is above all. His power, glory and purity are unmatched. We acknowledge our desire to obey and submit to His kingdom's principles. We concede that we are not capable of sustaining life without Him. We appeal to Him for our physical, emotional and spiritual provisions. We admit we need God’s provisions in order to defeat the evil one. His demise begins with forgiveness, which Jesus obtained for us. It continues with the assurance of victory over life’s many tests and trials that have the ability to lure us into temptation. It concludes with protection, “Deliver us from evil.” The King James Version of scripture reads, “Deliver is from the evil one.”

It is my opinion that within the church the presence and power of the evil one has been and continues to be underestimated and even denied. When we ignore the existence of the evil one we give him power and access to our lives.

General George Washington’s victorious invasion of the Hessian troops was the result of the British troops putting down the defenses because it was Christmas Eve. They underestimated the danger that lurked waiting for the right moment to attack.

This is exactly what the evil one does. The Bible refers to the evil one as ‘the great dragon,’ ‘the serpent,’ ‘liar,’ ‘murder,’ ‘lion’ and ‘deceiver.’ The evil one lurks waiting for the right moment to attack. He looks for your weakness and attacks. Every war, every unrest, every conflict, every disturbance of the peace, every act of violence, every worry, every moment of stress is a spiritual battle.

Last week I shared how I felt like I was in one of those cartoons with God on one shoulder and the evil one on the other when I found an envelope of money. I believe when we are most vulnerable the evil one is whispering reasons in ears and putting thoughts in our minds as to why we can’t trust God. As he did to Eve in the Garden of Eden, the evil one continues to make every attempt to lead us down a path of destruction. If you and I hope to be protected or to be delivered from the evil one's lies and deceptions we must pray, “Deliver us from evil.”

Rodney Dangerfield is known for the statement, “I get no respect.” The same could be said by the evil one, “I get no respect.” However unlike Rodney who says these words with lament the evil one says it with rejoicing.

We must never lose respect for the evil one. When we lose respect we put down our guard. How many times in sports has one team looked past their next opponent focusing on the following week’s game against a stronger opponent?

This past NCAA basketball championship was one of the most exciting to watch because George Mason a team picked to lose in the very first round advanced to the semi-finals beating the 6th, 3rd and 1st seeded teams in their bracket. The better, stronger and more successful teams lost. Why? Perhaps they didn’t prepare has hard for George Mason. Perhaps they thought George Mason was lucky to have beaten the previous team. I am willing to say the teams that lost to George Mason didn’t respect them as they would have if they were playing a higher ranked team.

Don’t lose respect for the craftiness of the evil one. When you do you open yourself up to the subtle pull of the evil one. On all occasions pray, “Deliver us from evil.”

I am sure you have all heard the story about the person who went to the doctor because of pain in his shoulder. As the doctor was examining the patient the doctor asked, “Does it hurt all the time?” The patient replied, “No only when I bend my arm like this.” The doctor responded, “Then stop bending your arm like that.” There is some very good logic to what the doctor said. It goes along with God’s logic. “Avoid every kind of evil.”(1Thessalonians 5:22) Some translations read, “Abstain from every kind of evil.” If you truly want to stop being hurt by your sins, stop putting you’re yourself in a place or in a position to fall into the evil ones’ snare. If you truly want to be delivered from the evil one, listen to God, “Avoid or Abstain from every kind of evil.” If you are not sure what kind of evil you are to avoid or abstain turn your Bible to Colossian 3 starting with verse 5. “Sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, greed, idolatry…anger, rage, malice, slander, filthy language from your lips, and lying". In Galatians 5 other kinds of evil are added such as, “Debauchery, witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, selfish ambition, drunkenness and orgies.”

People bring upon themselves so much hurt and pain because they refuse to listen to God’s Word’s of wisdom. They refuse to avoid and abstain from these kinds of evil from their life.

There was a story this past Friday morning on ESPN about a 13 year girl who was given an exemption to play in an LPGA tournament this weekend so that her mother who is dying of bone and brain cancer could see her play. It was a beautiful heart wrenching story. It was also a story that didn’t have to happen because the mother discovered a lump in her breast and waited an entire year before she went to the doctor to have it removed. Unfortunately by then the cancer had spread.

I am sorry I just don’t get it. When so much is being done to today with regards to breast cancer awareness why would you not have the lump removed when it was first discovered? Yet the same question can be asked with regards to all the pain and suffering experienced today because you refuse to remove some kind of evil? There is no better time than NOW to pray, “Deliver us from evil.”

There is no time like the present to prepare for the attacks of the evil one. I remember when I was a boy scout. We would start every meeting reciting the scout oath and law as well as the scout motto, “Be Prepared.” This is a Biblical principle. Jesus told several parables with regards to be prepared for the coming of the kingdom of God. Paul tells us what we need in order to be prepared.

Ephesians 6:10-18

“Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breast plate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. And pray in the Spirit
on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.”

Thus we pray “Deliver us from evil.”

When you pray “Deliver us from evil” you are making a commitment to respect the evil one, to avoid evil and to prepare for the evil one’s attacks.

You are also acknowledging your dependence on God to be your refuge and your strength. It is impossible to defeat the evil one without God’s help. Yet with God’s help all things are possible.
 

Amen