purpose to melody

"...deliver us from the evil one."

I never gave it much thought, and always just skimmed through those parts of the Bible, thinking that it could and would never happen to anyone I knew or myself.

And I guess this is like most things regarding spiritual things, it's never in the way that I would expect it. When God answers prayers, most of the time it's not what we had intended, or not the way in which we expected it to be. When God tells me something, it's almost never in the way that I want it, or in the way that I expect it to be. It's always something else, something that I don't expect, but it's there.

Ephesians(as well as many other places in the Bible) tells us that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the evil powers of the spiritual world. And maybe temptations and distractions do stem from physical things, like friendships, material things, porn, relationships, but I think, or I've been discovering, that what lies underneath is spiritual warfare, and the devil trying to cut us down. Especially if there is something to cut down. I know that I've really grown and taken steps in my faith over the past 6 months, and I know that there is an imbalance between what I used to be to the devil and what I am now. And when I think about all the distractions and ways that I have been discouraged or 'attacked', however insignificant it may seem on the outside of things, I do believe that there is a war going on, over me, and also every believer out there. How intense it may be would be in proportion to faith, and I guess the level of threat to the devil. Just take for example the church in Asia, if you had a demon radar and put it over the world, there would be millions over there, and next to nothing here. But I do believe that there is a battle going on all the time, and maybe I haven't realized it before, but I sure do now. I guess sometimes it will be more apparent than others, but I've experienced and have been experiencing something quite discomforting already, and I believe that prayer and continued perseverance and faith in Christ is what I can do.

The Lord's prayer covers many things, which I think is all that is necessary when you break down prayer life. I would always focus on the parts like bringing God's kingdom to earth, forgiveness of my sins, and provisions for the day(daily bread), and never really gave much thought to the part about 'deliverance from the evil one.'

And I think now I know why Jesus prayed that, and told us that that is the way in which we should pray.