“Our Father who art in heaven
Hallowed be Thy name
Thy Kingdom come
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven
Give us this day our daily bread
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us
Lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil”
“So I find this law at work; Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work within me…What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:21-25)
“Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” (Galatians 1:3-5)
We have seen that our Father is one who leads us and, specifically, leads us to where we need to go. He knows our weaknesses and can give us the direction that we need to avoid areas of temptation. But, we all know that we are quite prone to stray in our journey even with the best intentions. We find ourselves in-between what we want to do and what we are tempted to do. We are torn by the internal conflict that Paul describes in the Letter to the Romans quoted above. His evaluation is desperate but simple…we need a deliverer!!
Paul does not leave us hanging in the fog of hopelessness. The answer…A Deliverer…Jesus Christ! God is a deliverer. It is what He does. In nearly every major story in the Bible God shows up to deliver those who love Him. He delivered Noah from the flood. He delivered Israel from Egypt. He delivered Daniel from the lion’s den. Our heavenly Father has proved Himself as a deliverer. His greatest act of deliverance was coming and dying on the cross to deliver us from our sin…”the present evil age”.
Today we ask our Father too deliver us from evil. It is a prayer of protection. It is a prayer for help when we are in trouble. It is a prayer that acknowledges that there is evil and that we can sometimes get tangled up in it. We need a deliverer. We need Our Father…