Prayer That Shatters Strongholds: Unleashing the Power of ‘Deliver Us from Evil’
Excerpted from Deliver Us from Evil.
The most famous prayer in the history of the world, and the only prayer Jesus ever taught us to pray, is entitled “The Lord’s Prayer.”
Recite it with me: “Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen]” (Matthew 6:9-13 NASB 1995, emphasis added).
When I began the process of writing a 40-day journey, its title (Deliver Us from Evil) was inspired by the words of this simple, but profound prayer. Deliver us from evil! The great apostle Jude put it this way: “Now to Him who is able to protect you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory, blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen” (Jude 24-25). Furthermore, the apostle Paul wrote, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself” (2 Timothy 2:13).
Points to Ponder
Whenever I am feeling weak, depressed, or anxious, I always remind myself that Jesus is with me and that He is the one who will deliver me. It’s important that we do our best to recover from whatever it is we’re going through, and I pray that this 40-day journal has given you great tools to do that and go on to succeed in life. But the truth is, our confidence is in Jesus! He is not only able to restore and deliver us; He is willing! I love the famous poem “Footprints in the Sand,” because it reminds us that Jesus carries us in the toughest of times. In fact, I can still remember the first time I read it. I was so impacted by it that I wept. The poem unfolds like this:
One night I dreamed a dream. I was walking along the beach with my Lord. Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life. For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand, one belonging to me and one to my Lord.
When the last scene of my life shot before me I looked back at the footprints in the sand. There was only one set of footprints. I realized that this was at the lowest and saddest times of my life. This always bothered me and I questioned the Lord about my dilemma.
“Lord, You told me when I decided to follow You, You would walk and talk with me all the way. But I’m aware that during the most troublesome times of my life there is only one set of footprints. I just don’t understand why, when I need You most, You leave me.”
He whispered, “My precious child, I love you and will never leave you, never, ever, during your trials and testings. When you saw only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.”
It truly is by the grace of God that we have the strength, wisdom, and fortitude to navigate difficult seasons and situations.
Scriptural Meditation
Psalm 23:1-6 (NASB 1995)
“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
Insight
The 23rd Psalm was the first passage of scripture that I ever memorized as a new believer. I quoted it many times a day during my first nervous breakdown, especially when I was scared and desperate. I would remind myself that we may lie down by green pastures, but in the valley of the shadow of death we just keep walking—we don’t stop, lie down, or do anything to prolong our time in the shadow. Furthermore, where there is a shadow, there is by necessity a light… I would argue, His light. In fact, David, who knew a lot about tough times, wrote this about shadows: “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty” (Psalm 91:1 NASB 1995). When you are in the valley of despair, remember that the Almighty is carrying you. He’s got you covered. I mean, literally covered. You’re going to get through this! And lastly, His rod and staff are what comfort me…not my ability, wisdom, or strength. So remember, you’re going to make it… just keep walking, and never stop hoping!
Deliver Us from Evil
Kris Vallotton
Activation
“Enter His gates with thanksgiving…” (Psalm 100:4).
Write down two things you are thankful for.
Truth Infusion
“You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32).
Write down something that the Lord tells you about how He feels about you. Trust that He will tell you something new every day because His love for you is endless.
Grit!
Grit is the place where courage and perseverance collide—the raw power of gutting it out when life is a grind, a gauntlet, a slugfest. There is no blood test or CAT scan that can detect grit. It can only be uncovered on the treadmill of life, when the thrill is gone but you gut it out and stay in the game. Theodore Roosevelt’s quote called “The Man in the Arena” best depicts the attributes of grit:
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
Grit is not a personality type or a special talent present in a few rare people. No! It’s the fortitude of a soul who refuses to give up, let go, or lie down when life gets tough! At times, grit can look painfully foolish or stupidly unyielding, especially to the faint of heart, the crooked, or the cowardly, who shout, “Quit while you are behind!” But grit refuses to resign; it doesn’t know retreat and wills its way to victory. Grit may finish last, but it finishes, even if it has to crawl to the finish line on bloody limbs. They say, “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog, that matters!” That’s grit! Grit is 100 percent raw will, and everyone has a will. You don’t want to oppose a person with grit, because he or she will wear you down and grind you to a halt.
Points to Ponder
Grit is conceived on the battlefield, birthed in the fire of affliction, and raised in the palace of perseverance. How do you develop grit? Here are half a dozen ways:
Hang around courageous people, not cowards or victims.
Get a vision; it will give your pain a purpose.
Hope deferred makes the heart sick, so don’t stop hoping!
Keep a victory journal. Remembering your victories will give you hope in the battles still ahead.
Keep short accounts of your failures and don’t look back; remember Lot’s wife.
Find someone valuable to protect.
Scriptural Meditation
Luke 18:1-8 (NASB 1995)
“Now He [Jesus] was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart, saying, ‘In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man. There was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, “Give me legal protection from my opponent.” For a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, “Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out.”’ And the Lord said, ‘Hear what the unrighteous judge said; now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?’”
Insight
This is it—a wicked judge, and a widow with grit! The Lord relates to faith this widow’s refusal to give in. Her grit was an act of faith…her will was unyielding because her faith was unwavering.
I know we’ve all heard it many times before: “You’ve got to get tough!” “Stop being a baby!” “You’re not a victim!” Maybe an uncaring or unloving person said something like this to you in frustration or without compassion, which made you discount it. But I’m telling you that you want to grow your grit! It is powerful to have in spiritual warfare, because the devil lacks grit. You can wear him out, will him into exhaustion, and/or drag him to defeat! It’s not how much weight you can carry, but how long you can carry it that makes you dangerous to the devil! Refuse to give up, let go, or quit—until you win.
Live It
“But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not just hearers who deceive themselves” (James 1:22).
Let’s look again at the six ways to develop grit. Spend time thinking through each way and writing down how you can apply it to your life.
Hang around courageous people, not cowards or victims. These are the people we talked about on Day 33.
Get a vision; it will give your pain a purpose.
Hope deferred makes the heart sick, so don’t stop hoping!
Keep a victory journal. Remembering your victories will give you hope in the battles still ahead. Hopefully by now you have recorded several testimonies throughout this journal of what God has done. Keep it close by and celebrate these testimonies often.
Keep short accounts of your failures, and don’t look back; remember Lot’s wife. Also remember that we must never let our failures define us.
Find someone valuable to protect. It can be inspiring to know that you are advancing someone else’s life instead of focusing solely on your own dreams and goals.
You can’t cower in fear when you stand on truth!
Are you struggling through the fog of fear, anxiety, or depression? Do you feel broken, suffering alone in the shadows?
Having experienced crippling bouts of fear, anxiety, and panic that brought him to the edge of a nervous breakdown, best-selling author and Bethel Church leader Kris Vallotton discovered true freedom from these dark forces—and shows how you can too.
In this one-of-a-kind interactive book, Kris helps believers fill their minds with life-giving truths, empowering you to shut the door on fear, anxiety, suicide and depression—and experience lasting peace and joy.
Through powerful, Bible-based meditations, practical activation exercises, and purposeful journaling prompts, Kris equips you to:
Dethrone the power of fear in your life.
Counter the lies of the enemy with truth.
Take every thought captive instead of being captive to your thoughts.
Create personalized prayers of victory over panic, anxiety, depression, and fear.
Experience enduring freedom from these soul-crushing enemies.
In the dark, fear looms large. Bring your fight into the light of God’s truth and put this giant under your feet once and for all.
