If we really get the fact that as Christ-followers we are led people rather than driven people it will change our outlook on life forever.  It will change the way we connect to God, the way we relate to our families, the way we interact with our co-workers and clients—it will change our approach to every single day from the moment our feet first hit the floor in the morning.

Today’s post highlights this distinction: Lead us not into vs. Deliver us from.  First, notice the contrast in verbs: Lead vs. Deliver.  We are in far greater need of deliverance than we realize.  Deliverance isn’t just for people who get lost in Appalachian woods or for those whose heads spin as if on a swivel.  This world we live in is enemy territory, and while we are indeed to be battlers (see Ephesians 6), we are also in need of great deliverance.  Left to our own wits, abilities and resources we’re going to get creamed.

Second, notice the prepositions (I know, I know, this isn’t a grammar lesson—I promise to keep it simple!). Into vs. From.  As we just noted, we’re right in the thick of enemy territory.  Our prayer ought to consist not of being led deeper in, but of being set free from—or if you will, led out.

So our prayer today is essentially, following on the heels of my last post, “Don’t let us go charging headlong into a mess we’re completely unequipped for because we think we’re so tough, but rather deliver us from both the hubris of thinking too highly of ourselves, and from the blatant and disguised evils that surrounds us at every turn.”

BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL

As we walk in this humility, protect us from the Evil One, from him who seeks our destruction not so much because we are a threat to him but because we are instruments in the hand of the Creator and Redeemer of all things. Because we are agents of the King against whom he is a rebel and a traitor, we proclaim his soon-to-be utter and complete, eternal destruction.

We remember, O Great Deliverer, to offer our whole selves into Your ever just and capable hands. To You alone, not to any other person or entity, do we entrust ourselves.  May we always lean into You and not into our own strength and effort.  And here before Your shining face we leave our lives and selves, our dreams and callings, our hopes and fears, our desires and longings, our past, present and future, for You alone are trustworthy and true, faithful and just, merciful and forgiving.  No force can prevail against us, so long as we remain tethered to You.