Pray That God Will Protect Us from Harm
Do you ever ask God to protect you from evil? You can. It’s biblical. It’s part of my morning routine, and based on what I’m about to share, I want to be more intentional about making this request each day.
There are two key prayers in the Bible that offer scriptural support for asking God to deliver us from evil.
The Lord’s Prayer
What we commonly refer to as the Lord’s Prayer—because it came from Jesus, our Lord—we should more appropriately call the disciple’s prayer—because it’s for his disciples, and for us.
This stands as the most significant prayer in the Bible. First, because Jesus taught it. Second, because he gave it to us as a model to follow.
Consider the line in Matthew 6:13 from this prayer. In most translations, it says “deliver us from the evil one,” or simply “deliver us from evil.” Some versions use the word rescue, save, or free, but deliver is the most common translation.
Jesus gave us this prayer is a model to use, so we should follow it and pray that he will deliver us from evil.
The Prayer of Jabez
Another biblical prayer that I find significant is the lesser-known prayer of Jabez. (There’s even a book written about it.) Aside from the Lord’s Prayer, I call Jabez’s prayer my favorite prayer in the Bible.
Why is this? Because after Jabez prays, Scripture records God’s response. It says that God granted his request.
This means that God accepted Jabez’s petition and answered his prayer. Oh, how this encourages me when I pray.
One line in Jabez’s prayer is that God would “keep me from evil” 1 Chronicles 4:10). Though some translations use the word harm or pain instead of evil, most say evil.
Two Prayers to Deliver Us from Evil
It should be enough that Jesus tells us to ask God to deliver us from evil. But the Bible gives us a second example through Jabez, along with God’s confirmation that he answered Jabez’s prayer when he asked for the same thing.
This should encourage us that when we ask God to keep and deliver us from evil, he will do just that.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
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