HOW TO OVERCOME SATAN, THE EVIL ONE
Winning the Victory over the Devil
After this manner, therefore, pray ye, “Our Father Which art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, In earth as it is in Heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.” Matthew 6:9-13).
Verse 13 may rightly be translated: "Deliver us from the Evil One."
When you were saved, you were brought into a battle. Not to a religious playground, or a Sunday School picnic, but to a no-holds- barred fight to the finish against a sinister enemy. We are up against the demonized, mobilized hosts and forces of Hell.
As a matter of fact, the Lord Jesus Christ, the One Who loves us so much, was so aware of the power of the devil that when He taught us to pray, He warned every one of us to pray, “And, Lord, deliver us from the Evil One."
Why do we need deliverance? Because he is so powerful. The devil is a supernatural individual with dark, unholy, chilling, supernatural power.
But we also must understand that when Jesus taught us to pray, "And deliver us from the Evil One," He followed that immediately with, “For Thine is the kingdom, and Thine is the power, and Thine is the glory forever." The devil may be powerful, but God is ALL -powerful.
The kingdom does not belong to Satan ultimately. It belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ. And those who follow Satan are going to end up where Satan ends up, for Hell is “prepared for the devil and his angels.”
HOW YOU OVERCOME THE EVIL ONE
Three cords run through the Bible:
- The dark, somber cord of Satan's revolt.
- The crimson cord of blood redemption.
- The golden cord of the second coming of Jesus Christ.
It’s not “mastery over the devil” you need. It is the Master of the devil, the Lord Jesus Christ. You must know Christ. You must know the Master of the devil if you would overcome the devil. And you can know Him.
BY THE BLOOD
When Jesus Christ went to the cross, He said, speaking of Satan, "Now is the prince of this world cast out." Revelation 12:11 says, “And they [the saints] overcame him [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony."
Are your sins under the blood of Christ? Are you saved by the power of the blood? Jesus breaks the power of cancelled sin, as the hymn says. “He sets the prisoner free. His blood can make the foulest clean. His blood availed for me.”
BY THE WORD OF YOUR TESTIMONY
These overcoming believers were not ashamed to confess Christ openly and publicly, saying, “I believe Christ is the Son of God.” Verse 11 continues, “And they loved not their lives unto the death.” That is, they said, “As much as is in me, I'm going with God, and I'm going for God with every inch, every ounce, every nerve, every fiber!” They laid it all on the line.
BY PUTTING ON THE ARMOR OF GOD
We overcome the devil when we who have received Christ as Lord and Savior take up and put on the whole armor of God.
You know this: Before any pilot—commercial, private, or Air Force fighter jet—takes off, he runs through a checklist. Here is your checklist! Are you wearing each piece of this armor?
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
Are you saved? Then you need not fear! You need not flee! You can stand in the name of Jesus. But you're not going to stand apart from prayer.
This is not a message about the devil—it’s a message about prayer, because it’s through Jesus Christ and PRAYER that we overcome him.
Sidlow Baxter said, “Surely the devil must say to his demons, ‘Boys, keep them from prayer! Because if we can keep them from praying, we can beat them every time. But if they pray, they'll beat us every time’”
Paul says in verse 13, “and having done all, to stand.” And how do we stand? He runs down the checklist of the armor. Then he says, “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;”
The battle is won through the blood of the Lamb, the word of your testimony, and prayer.
You cannot pray, "Lord, deliver us from evil," unless you can pray, "Our Father." Is he your Father? Have you been born again? When God is not your Father, Christ is not your Savior, and Satan is your master. But he is a defeated foe. For to God belongs the Kingdom, the power, the glory forever. Do you know Him? Is Jesus Christ real to you?
