Evil is real and not a mere state of mind. Furthermore, we live in a fallen world, which is morally and spiritually degraded. Thus, evil is rampant and we need to be protected from it. Recognizing this fact, the Lord taught us to pray to be delivered from evil. “Deliver us from evil” acknowledges that we need deliverance. We don't need to deny the fact that evil surrounds and threatens us and we need to detach ourselves from it. We need deliverance from it. We need to avoid it and escape it, to be shielded from it.
When Jesus included the phrase, “Deliver us from evil” in His model prayer, He clearly wanted His followers to understand that deliverance was possible. It is obtainable. It is available. “Pray then like this,” Jesus said: “Deliver us from evil.” The request that God would “deliver us from evil” comes from the Lord’s Prayer, recorded in Matthew 6:13 . The Lord’s Prayer is also recorded in Luke 11:2–4. The word for “evil” is translated differently in different versions. In some cases, evil, while in others the evil one. The Greek term is literally rendered as “the evil.” Since the term is specific, many scholars believe that “the evil” is specific and personified, that is, the devil.
“Deliver us from evil” is tied to the request immediately before it, “Lead us not into temptation” (Matthew 6:13). This request thus has a wider ramification in that it requests us to protect us from the devil, who is the tempter. The word translated “temptation” can also be translated as “hard testing” and doesn’t necessarily refer to a temptation to sin. In this petition, the evil is not specified, for the list will be endless. Our world is full of evil. So, we can pray to deliver us from evil whether moral or natural, spiritual or physical, penal or afflictive. According to some theologians, the prayer “Deliver us from Evil” is the 7th petition in the Lord’s Prayer.
Satan is ultimately behind all evil, so it makes little difference whether we are to ask for deliverance from evil in general (sin) or from the evil one, specifically since the two are related. In the Lord’s Prayer, we are instructed to pray that God will protect us from situations that would tempt us to sin. It is a request that sin never gains a foothold in our lives.
We need to rely on the Holy Spirit to help us resist temptation and overcome sin in our lives. Praying “deliver us from evil” is a recognition of our own limited abilities and a means of asking for God to step in and help us. While we can pray for help to overcome temptation and sin, we can also pray that we will not be put in positions or circumstances where we would face severe temptation. James 4:7: “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” This is prefaced by “submit yourselves to God.”
Dr Ashwin Drummond
Laddertoheaven.co.in