Prayer Focus-Protection from Evil One

JOHN SHIRK – In the Year of Focus, we take a look at the prayer of Jesus for the protection of His followers.

In John 17:15, Jesus said to His Heavenly Father about His disciples, “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.”

This is a good reminder for us to pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ in a similar way. Pray that believers would not give in to the voice of temptation. Pray that they would overcome evil with good, and grow in the truth of God’s Word.

Greg Laurie has said that the Christian life is not a playground, but a battleground. Prayer is one of the weapons we need to overcome the evil one. Another important weapon is the Bible. Jesus resisted the Devil’s temptations by quoting Scripture. That power is available to us by paying attention to God’s Word.

The prayer of Jesus for the protection of His followers is worth examining for a faith-focused life.

John Shirk

john@wjtl.com