Word of Salvation – Vol.32 No.18 – May 1987
Prayer: The Fifth Request
Sermon by Rev. J. W. Westendorp on Matthew 6:13
Reading: Matt.26:30-46; James 1:1-15; Lord’s Day 52
Singing: 372; BoW.H.510; 137; Bow.H.823:7,8,10; 470
Theme: The request for God’s help in the battle against evil.
Introduction:
In our daily fight against sin, there are usually two things that we do… and do constantly. The first thing we do – is to do our best to win that battle. True, we often fail… but we at least keep on trying.
The second thing we do – is to ask God to forgive us when we do fail. “Forgive us our trespasses.” – most of us pray that very often. But there is yet a third thing we really ought to do. Something that we don’t do nearly often enough. And that is to ask God to help us in that battle. That should be our daily prayer.
In fact, that is what the sixth request of the Lord’s Prayer is about.
A request for God’s help in our battle against evil.
At this point it is good for us to notice the order of the requests in this prayer.
First we pray for forgiveness of our past sins.
We do that in the fifth request of the Lord’s Prayer: Forgive us our trespasses…!
But now in the sixth request
we ask God to help us daily to declare war on sin and evil.
Sin is not only an offence that makes us guilty, needing forgiveness;
sin is also a power that needs to be fought against.
- The Need Out of Which We Pray.
So when we consider this request of the Lord’s Prayer… we see right away that Jesus recognised we have a need in this area. You and I need help! Jesus knew that in this battle we cannot manage by ourselves.
I’m sure that all of us would admit to that very readily.
Think of all the times you’ve kicked yourself for giving in to temptation so quickly… almost without a struggle. Think of those instances where you really didn’t fight temptation as hard as you could have done and should have done.
All of us know that the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.
And sometimes, it seems, the spirit is not even all that willing.
Our Heidelberg Catechism talks about: “our weakness” and “our inability to hold our own for even a moment”.
“That’s an exaggeration!” you say.
Sure! We are weak! We fail!
But to say we cannot hold our own in that battle FOR EVEN A MOMENT?
And then we think back on today…and yesterday.
Haven’t we made a reasonable job of living the Christian life?
We’re not perfect of course… but we do fight the good fight of faith.
But are we forgetting that our success in these matters…
is because of the grace of God and only the grace of God?
I wonder what would happen if the Lord should just let us manage on our own for a while? I can tell you what happens when we have to do things on our own. Then we have three denials of Jesus before the rooster has even crowed. Three failures before the sun is up or the day even begun.
Or maybe to bring it home a little closer: Three times angry words and the breakfast dishes weren’t even off the table. Three times lustful thoughts – and that was already while reading the morning paper.
The point is that it is NOT exaggerating to say with the Catechism that we need this request because we are so weak that we cannot hold our own for even a moment.
We are weak… too weak for this spiritual battle. We need to recognise that and admit it. Because only then will we see our need to watch and pray lest we fall into temptation.
Only then will we make it our constant prayer:
Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
However, Jesus taught us to pray this not only because of our weakness.
But also because of the power of the opposition.
In fact there is something we ought to remind ourselves of…
something we often forget…
that we have three opponents that never stop attacking us:
The devil… the world… and our own flesh.
The FIRST OPPONENT, the devil – that sounds pretty straightforward.
And yet…! So often he fools us.
He comes to us disguised as an angel of light.
He often tempts us by using things that seem to be good and helpful.
In fact that’s exactly what makes things a temptation.
Satan takes God’s good and legitimate gifts and turns them into temptations.
Money? Nothing wrong with that. We need it to survive.
But then the devil entices us to want more of it.
And we start filling out “Lotto” tickets and “Pools” forms.
And Satan is setting us up… and we’re losing the battle.
Or think of “work”. Another good gift of God.
But then the devil tempts us and we become slaves to our business.
And we’re letting that first opponent win the fight.
Satan and his helpers know our weak spots…
and they press the attack at just those points.
We need to pray for deliverance from the devil and his henchmen.
And then there is that SECOND OPPONENT – the world.
Here we have the difficult task of making a very important distinction.
To learn the difference between “the world” and what is “worldly”.
The world is good and belongs to our Father in heaven.
But things become worldly when those things in the world come between us and God…
…when we set our hearts on them,
…when they draw us away from God.
Again that is precisely the temptation.
Things good in themselves but for the wrong purpose.
Clothing is a legitimate gift of God.
Neither is there anything wrong with being fashionable.
But both clothing and fashions can become idolatrous
by us spending too much time and money on them,
and judging others by dress and fashions.
So there are many good things in the world…
everything from wine, women and song
to fast cars, sport and recreation.
But they can become that second opponent defeating us in the battle.
If all those things in the world start looking attractive then beware…
and pray with all your might:
Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
But let’s not forget that THIRD OPPONENT either – our own flesh.
Older translations of the Bible often speak of “the flesh”.
However this third enemy has nothing to do with our physical bodies.
If that was the case those who weigh the most would have the biggest battle on their hands. That may be true if you are dieting but it is not true in the spiritual warfare.
The NIV speaks of “the sinful nature” instead of “the flesh”.
It is the patterns and habits of the old unconverted me
and I must daily put that old sin-nature to death.
It is important for us to recognise this third opponent.
Too often we are inclined to blame Satan.
Even little children will often say, “The devil made me do it!”
Or we say that something outside us, the world, led us astray.
You and I must come to grips with the fact that there is an evil force right within us. Our own pride and lust and self-centredness.
Times when I just want to insist that MY desires are satisfied.
In fact this is the most subtle opponent of the lot.
Often I don’t see that the root cause of the problem is ME…
My refusal to crucify the old self with its passions and desires.
Paul wrote: “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is in my sinful nature.
Very often when we are inclined to blame the devil for tempting us… and the world for leading us astray.. we should really look first at the rebelliousness of our own hearts.
So to sum up:
We pray this request because of our serious needs.
Because we daily wage war against three deadly enemies.
- The Effect That We Seek As We Pray.
But let us also consider what it is that we actually ask for as we pray.
This request is that the Lord might not lead us into temptation… but rather that He would deliver us from evil.
At first glance that presents us with a problem.
In our reading from James we heard that God does not tempt anyone.
Yet sometimes it does seem that the Lord does tempt people.
In fact, in the case of Jesus we specifically read:
“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted.”
Isn’t this a contradiction? James says that God tempts no one.
Yet Jesus was led into temptation by the Spirit.
And now we are to pray, “Lead us not into temptation.”
I’ve always found it helpful to look at it this way: God does indeed test us.
Testing can have a positive purpose positive purpose – think of Abraham.
God does it to make our faith stronger, to purify our love for Him.
But Satan uses those tests as an opportunity to break us.
I imagine that when the Lord tested Abraham’s faith… Satan was right there saying, “Don’t do it Abraham!” Satan seeks to turn tests into temptations.
What we are asking for then is this:
That the Lord will not allow our times of testing
to become opportunities for Satan to tempt us.
And that when we are tempted, for the Lord to bring us safely through it.
Of course we could look at all this in another way:
That in that uneven battle… in which we are outnumbered, three to one…
this is our S.0.S.
We request God’s help in that uneven warfare.
That fight against Satan, the world and our own flesh.
I don’t know whether you noticed that in the Heidelberg Catechism… the Holy Spirit is specifically mentioned.
That makes a lot of sense.
If we boil it right down, we are really asking for the Holy Spirit.
A prayer that in the power of the Spirit we might win the battle.
When we look at it that way, then the odds against us begin to change.
That battle is no longer as uneven as it might have seemed.
The Spirit who gives us victory in temptation is the Spirit of Jesus.
And Jesus overcame all three of those sworn enemies.
He defeated Satan.
He never gave in to the world… nor to sinful human impulses.
In fact that battle we are involved in is really His battle.
And in principle He ALREADY has the victory.
That changes our whole perspective on things.
It means that in the way of prayerful dependence on Him those enemies don’t stand a chance.
We see that especially in the closing words of the Lord’s Prayer.
“For Yours is the Kingdom… the power…and the glory…!”
In Jesus Christ our God is willing and able to help us overcome.
Let me suggest three ways in which this request is specifically answered.
FIRST of all through the Holy Spirit God keeps us from defeat.
That’s one of the effects we seek for our lives in this request.
It’s important for us to consider this matter of defeat.
The saddest things is to meet defeated Christians.
And I don’t mean those who slip up once in a while…
and who then get up and try again… fight on with new determination.
I mean people who have given up the fight.
They have an ATTITUDE of defeat.
It’s tragic that there are Christians
who have stopped fighting the devil, the world and their own flesh;
…people who’s motto is: If you can’t beat them, join them.
…folks who have given up worrying too much
about the literature they read or TV programs they watch;
…men who happily join in telling stories that degrade sex and womanhood.
…women who don’t dare to confront their children
when they know their behaviour is unchristian.
We need to pray this request not only so that we are not defeated in the isolated skirmishes with the enemy..!
We especially need to pray this so that we may not GO DOWN in defeat.
Here is a request that is a remedy for defeated Christians.
And we can be sure and certain of that
because He whose power we seek and receive
stood undefeated even before Satan had done his worst.
SECONDLY, and on the positive side,
God gives us the strength for firm resistance.
That too is an effect we seek in this request of the Lord’s Prayer:
Firm resistance.
With an emphasis on the “firm”.
One of our problems is that too often we offer only token resistance.
We think of a few lame excuses.
We know of a reason or two why we should fight it..!
But then we give in anyway.
In fact rather than FIRM RESISTANCE we often go out of our way to make things easier for ourselves.
Let me give you some examples:
There is the man who knows that his weakness is alcohol.
Firm resistance would include making sure there’s none in the house.
Instead he always makes sure his bar is well stocked.
There’s the woman who knows that a certain man always leads her astray.
But instead of avoiding him, she keeps on seeking out his company.
Almost seeking temptation instead of offering firm resistance.
We as Christians need to remember that Jesus offered firm resistance.
When He was tempted He replied with a “Thus says the Lord!”
And the strength to resist that was in Jesus is also ours.
The Holy Spirit seeks to live out the life of Jesus in us.
That means firm resistance is one of the effects we pray for here.
FINALLY the Lord also guides us in this way to share in that day of final and total victory.
As we said before – that day of total and complete victory is certain.
Certain, because in principle Jesus has already won the battle.
The battle we fight is really just the last death-throes of the enemy.
Christians may be sure that one day there will be no more temptation.
Evil will forever be done away with.
And those three enemies will be no more.
One day we will stand before the throne of the Victorious Lamb of God.
And we will be free from sin and satan.
The battle will be over.
But until that day we need to keep fighting… struggling.
And we need to keep on praying:
“Bring us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.”
The story is told of Augustine one of the early church fathers.
When he was a young man he used to pray this prayer too.
Bring us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
But then Augustine would add “But please don’t do it yet.”
That’s a problem isn’t it?
Asking in prayer for God’s help in temptation… and yet…
deep down… we enjoy the sin that temptation leads us into.
Then our praying of this request becomes a very half-hearted affair.
If we really understand the closing words of the Lord’s Prayer, then it becomes harder and harder to pray as Augustine did.
When we conclude with the words:
“For Yours is the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory, for ever.”
Then we are agreeing that God is willing and able
to do that which we have requested.
We believe that God truly will deliver us from evil.
As our King He wants to do that.
As the One with all Power He is able to do that.
And He will do it for His glory.
That’s why we also end with that word “AMEN”. That’s not just a full stop at the end of our prayer. It is a joyful and confident exclamation that for the Saviour’s sake God hears and answers our prayers more certainly than we even desire what we ask for.
Even when you and I pray half-heartedly as Augustine did… then that word “Amen” is always a reminder… that our prayers find their certainty in Jesus who says:
I am the Amen!
In that confidence we conclude our prayers and go out to do battle.
Amen.