Matt.6:13 And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. 1 Cor. 10:13 No temptation has taken you except that which is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow that you be tempted beyond what you are able, but will, with the temptation, also make the way out, that you may be able to endure it. 1 Pet. 5:8 Be sober; watch. Your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion , walks about, seeking someone to devour.
Since the Lord has asked us to pray, we should pray that God would not bring us into temptation. We do not know when temptation will come. But we can pray ahead of time that we not be brought into temptation. This prayer is for our protection. We are not waiting every day for temptation to come. Rather, we are praying every day for temptation not to come. We should ask that we only encounter what the Lord allows to come upon us and not encounter anything that the Lord does not allow to come upon us. If we do not pray this way, we will not be able to withstand temptation for a moment; we will not be able to accomplish anything. We must ask the Lord to not bring us into any temptation, not allowing us to encounter anyone that we should not encounter nor to come across anything that we should not come across. This is a protective prayer. Not only do we have to ask God not to bring us into temptation, but we also have to ask Him to deliver us from the evil one. This is a positive prayer. No matter where Satan puts his hand, we have to ask the Lord to deliver us from the evil one. In other words, we pray that we not fall into the hand of the evil one in anything. In reading Matthew 8 and 9, we find that Satan's hands are beyond what we expect and know. They are hidden behind the fever which comes suddenly upon a person's body (8:14) and the storm which rises suddenly from the sea (8:24). They cause the demons to attach themselves to men and drown the pigs (8:28-32). They work within man's heart and cause him to reject and oppose the Lord for no reason at all (9:3, 11). In short, Satan is out to harm man and inflict suffering on man. Therefore, we have to pray that we will be delivered from the evil one. (c) Living Stream Ministry.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from "The Prayer Ministry of the Church" in the Collected Works of Watchman Nee, Vol. 22, pp. 172-173. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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