Prayer – Day 17
Seventh petition
Um(Imi)bhalo weBhayibheli
NgokukaMathewu 6
How does Jesus ask the Father to deliver us from evil? In John 17:15 he prays: “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.” We know that there is an evil force out there and its primary strategy is deceit. Jesus therefore asks specifically to guard his people against that evil. For behind the temptation stands the tempter, behind the lie stands the liar, behind all the death and bloodshed stands the “murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44).
How will Jesus guard us from evil? In John 17:17 he asks his Father to make his disciples “holy in the truth; your word is truth”. By sanctifying them he enables them to recognise and conquer the temptation to engage in lies and deceit.
The antidote to every falsehood is the truth found in Scripture. In fact, there is no remedy for falsehood other than the truth. Therefore, if falsehood is the modus operandi of the evil one, the father of lies, then God’s truth shall set us free!
