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The Third Petition In the first two petitions of the Lord’s Prayer, we pray for what we need the most. We pray for the Holy Spirit to enlighten us so we would understand God’s truth and remain strong in faith. We pray for the strength to put God’s truth into practice and turn to God in every need. When we cling to Christ and His Gospel, we are assaulted by many who do not want us to have this treasure, and we should be prepared for these attacks. We should recognize that Christ’s enemies are now our enemies and that they will come after us. Peter, for example, warns us, “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). The devil is furious when we no longer believe his lies. He lashes out at anyone who believes the Gospel and enlists the aid of his allies, the world and our flesh. Our old self is still with us and still inclined toward evil. The devil knows this, and so, for example, he tries to use anger as a weapon against us. This is why, Paul says, “Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold” (Ephesians 4:26-27). The devil also enlists the aid of those in the world who are opposed to Christ. Paul warns that “everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12). Christ knew that we would face persecution because of Him (Matthew 5:10-12, 13:20-21) and that is why He said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). When persecution does not work, then the devil comes after us by trying to get us to replace Christ’s treasures with worldly ones. This is why Jesus in His explanation to the Parable of the Sower speaks about “the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth” (Matthew 13:22). These things can choke the life of faith. Jesus warns about laying up treasures on earth because our hearts can turn aside to them. We can treat them as substitutes for eternal treasures (Matthew 6:19-21). This is why it is vital that we pray the third petition. We ask for God’s help so we would not discard Christ and His gifts. We pray that nothing--not persecution, not worldly treasures, not sinful desires--that nothing would lead us to turn away from the great treasure we have in the Gospel. The devil wants us to believe the wrong thing and to despair. He does not mind if we have hope as long as our hope is based on the wrong thing. And he does not mind if we know the Law as long as this knowledge leads us to give up hope. The devil would succeed in his schemes, if God did not help us. We certainly cannot stand firm on our own. Thus we look to God for help. We pray in this petition that God would strengthen us and foil the devil’s schemes. And He does this through His Spirit. He sends us the Holy Spirit, who opens our eyes and gives us the ability to see the Gospel for the treasure it is. He defeats the devil by leading us to cling to the truth in His word and giving us confidence that He will be merciful. |
