Deliver Me (Part 4)

Deliver me from evil.

I kept feeling like this was the next part to this series but wasn’t sure what real-life example I could use for this type of deliverance. However, then I received an email from an anonymous person claiming they were spying on me through my phone and insinuated I watched something I did not watch and did something I did not do. They also tried to extort money from me to keep this secret. While I am sure this was a pfishing expedition, I know there is probably some lost soul out there that will fess up and pay the money to keep their private life from public view.

However, this prompted me to research whether someone could spy on me in the privacy of my home through my cell phone, and I found it is more common than I thought. In fact, it’s a good practice to cover your camera lens when not using it. Your life may be a reality TV show without your knowledge.

Evil exists in the world.

There are people who don’t want the best for us. There are thieves, murderers and hackers, all derivatives from the fall of mankind in the garden.

So what do we do about it? How do we combat evil when it knocks on our door?

When I received my troubling email, I immediately prayed for the person, and asked God to deliver me from evil. It’s one of God’s special deliveries, mentioned numerous times in the Bible. Psalm 71:4 says, “Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.”  Psalm 59:2 says, “Deliver me from the workers of iniquity, and save me from bloodthirsty men.”

Jesus knew firsthand about the presence of evil. He was a target of lies and those who wanted to kill him. When He taught his disciples how to pray in Matthew 6, he didn’t close His prayer out until he asked God to “deliver us from the evil one.”

So let’s learn from Jesus. If we know that evil is around us, we should be proactive in our prayers against it. Every morning we should be praying for God to deliver us from evil. We should ask the Lord to place a protective hedge around us that evil cannot penetrate. In Ephesians 6, the Apostle Paul instructs us to put on the armor of God—“the breastplate of righteousness, the gospel of peace, the shield of faith,” and “the helmet of salvation­”—so that we can “stand against the wiles of the devil.”

Paul reminded us our battle “is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, and against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” When people commit evil acts, they’ve been taken over by an evil spirit at work in and through them.

Here’s the great news.

We have power over evil.

Jesus capped off the Lord’s prayer with “Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.” God’s power trumps evil’s power.

And one day after Jesus’ return, evil will be destroyed and righteousness will reign. In the meantime, ask the deliverer to guard your life from evil.

“But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one” (2 Thessalonians 3:3).