A Prayer to Overcome Evil By Beth Ann Baus
"Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: 'It is mine to avenge; I will repay,' says the Lord. On the contrary: 'If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.' Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." (Romans 12:17-21)
If you live on this earth you can be sure of one thing: you will witness evil. We should expect it and be prepared to react. How then, should we respond to evil?
Hate Evil. Romans 12:9 tells us "Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good."This may seem obvious, but our culture has turned evil into entertainment. We pay money to see evil unfold on the big screen. We etch out time to sit in our own homes and watch evil prevail on television. Because of this, we often find ourselves numb to the actual presence of evil when we see it on the news or right before our very eyes. We must learn to recognize evil and hate it.
Pray against Evil. Matthew 6:13 is a great example of praying for escape. "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." Our pride often tricks us into thinking we can deal with evil on our own. We can't, and if we try we will fail. We must pray to our Heavenly Father and ask for deliverance.
Expose Evil. Ephesians 5:11 says "Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them." Our current culture is one that teaches complete tolerance. We are expected to accept and tolerate any and all behavior, even if the behavior directly violates God's Word. While we are expected, as Christians, to respond to sin with a certain level of grace and love, evil should in no way, under any circumstance be tolerated. It should be exposed and we should take no part in it. |
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