Drawing Nigh to God....series

Drawing Nigh to God

by

Minnie E. Dauphinee

 

After This Manner Pray.... Deliver Us From Evil

 

When we delight to do God's will, w hate sin, and can pray from the heart, "Deliver us from the evil one." Satan is everywhere. No matter which way we turn, we are confronted by his subtle temptations. Yet no harm can come to us if we constantly surrender our lives to be guided by God, and really desire Him to deliver us from Satan's power. Sometimes God delays the answer to or prayers, or gives us something different from what we ask for, but this is not true when we ask for strength to resist temptation. Since the beginning of the world He has never failed to answer such prayer immediately, and He never will fail.

 

When Jesus lived on earth He was tempted by the evil one. The Bible tells us that immediately after His baptism He was "led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil."

 (Matthew 4:1). This does not mean that He ventured on Satan's ground or invited temptation. He went into the wilderness that He might be alone to fast and pray. Satan followed Him there, determined to cause Him to sin.

 

Our Saviour was more severely tempted than we can ever be, yet He always found a way of

escape. And He assures us that in every temptation He will make a way of escape for

us also (1 Corinthians 10:13).

 

He does not make a way of escape by removing temptation from us, but by giving us strength to withstand it. His purpose in permitting temptation is to perfect our characters and teach us to depend wholly upon God. "The soul that through divine power resists temptation, reveals to the world and to the heavenly universe the efficiency of the grace of Christ." 

 

We remember the experience of Daniel in the court of the kind of Babylon. There was set before Daniel food that had been offered to idols. To eat of this food would have been a denial of Daniel's faith. Yet to refuse to eat would probably have offended the kind and caused Daniel to lose his position and even his life. How strongly Daniel must have been tempted to eat a portion of the food, or at least to pretended to do so. But in answer to his prayer God gave him power to resist the temptation.

Daniel's God is our God. in every time of temptation, if we will pray, "Deliver us from the evil one," we shall hear His still small voice saying, "I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee" (Isaiah 41:10).

Marvelous provision!