The Seventh Petition.
But deliver us from evil.
What does this mean?
Answer - We pray in this petition, as in a summary, that our Father
in heaven would deliver us from all manner of evil, of body and soul, property
and honor, and at last, when our last hour shall come, grant us a blessed end,
and graciously take us from this vale of tears to Himself into heaven.
In this petition, we ask God to keep every form of evil from
us. We are living outside of Eden. This is a broken and fallen world. As long as we are in the world, we will have
to endure all sorts of evil, the consequence of living in a sinful world and
the results of our own individual sins. By this prayer we ask the Father to
guard and keep us in the faith until we die, that He would grant us a blessed
end, and usher us into His kingdom of glory.
When we pray this petition in sincerity and faith we can
pray also the prayer of Simeon, “Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in
peace according to Thy word; for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation.” (Luke
2:29,30)
Almighty, everlasting God, whose Son has assured forgiveness
of sins and deliverance from eternal death, strengthen us by Your Holy Spirit
that our faith in Christ increase daily and we hold fast the hope that we shall
not die but fall asleep and on the last day be raised to eternal life; through
Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Collect
For the hope of eternal life in Christ, Lutheran Worship © 1980 Concordia
Publishing House, St. Louis
Artwork by Ed Rojas, © Higher Things
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