February 13
“But deliver us from evil.”
The Seventh and final Petition of the Lord’s Prayer is a summary of the things for which we pray. We are asking our heavenly Father to deliver us from every evil of body and soul. It is very important for us to put our trust in God’s gracious promises. Through the man of God, Job, we hear God’s promise, “He shall deliver you in six troubles, yes, in seven no evil shall touch you,” Job 5:19. Through the psalmist, He says, “No evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; for He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone,” Psalm 91:10-12. God commands His angels to watch over His children. The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews asks, “Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?” Hebrews 1:14.
We are also praying in this petition that God would help us bear the crosses that He sends or allows to come our way. We are told in Scripture that, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God,” Acts 14:22, and we are urged to continue in the faith in God’s promises. With faith in His promises, you can say with the apostle Paul, “The Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom,” 2 Timothy 4:18.
Indeed, God chastens and corrects us. In the Epistle to the Hebrews, we are told, “Whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives,” Hebrews 12:6. Job wrote, “Happy is the man whom God corrects; therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty. For He bruises, but He binds up; He wounds, but His hands make whole,” Job 5:17-18.
Finally, in this petition we pray for a blessed departure from this life. We are praying that God would let us peacefully fall asleep in the faith. Remember Simeon. Scripture reports, “It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the Law, he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said: ‘Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all people,’” Luke 2:26-31. With his faith in God’s assurance that he would see the promised Savior before he would die, Simeon held the baby Jesus in his arms and said, “Lord, I am ready to die!”
With your faith in Jesus Christ as God’s Son and your Savior, who suffered and died on Calvary’s cross and paid the price to wash away your sins, and who rose from the grave to conquer death and the devil, you have God’s assurance of the forgiveness of all your sins and the promise of life eternal. You can say with the apostle Paul, “(I have) a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better,” Philippians 1:23.
We pray: Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer and deliver us from every evil of body and soul. In Jesus’ name. Amen.