IKOYI BAPTIST CHURCH's Podcast

The Lord's Prayer (Victory Over The Evil One)

August 28, 2019 Rev. Olufemi Babalola
IKOYI BAPTIST CHURCH's Podcast
The Lord's Prayer (Victory Over The Evil One)
Show Notes

The Lord Jesus Christ is a man of prayer. He was committed to prayer during His life
in the flesh. Scripture attests to the fact that He is still interceding for His church till
date. Talking about Christ’ prayer life, S. D. Gordon said: “The man Christ Jesus prayed;
prayed much; needed to pray; loved to pray.”
In his bid to teach his disciples “to pray,” Christ provided them with the prayer model in
Lk. 11:1ff.
A good understanding of the principles taught in this passage would no doubt help
everyone who desires to grow in his/her prayer life.
Meanwhile, apart from learning the principles of prayer from this model prayer, we
can also deduce principal reasons why we should pray. Some of the reasons are:

1. To Strengthen our Relationship with our Heavenly Father - V.9.
God is the Creator of all mankind. He is however not the Father of all human
beings.
God is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He is also the Father to all who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and
Saviour - Jn. 1:12; 2 Tim. 2:19.
The word “Father” means source. Ancestor and inventor.
Prayer gives us the opportunity of daily and constantly connecting with our
Source.
This explains why you experience spiritual dryness when you are not consistent
with your prayer life.

2. For the Establishment of God’s Kingdom - V.10.
Satan the thief is regarded in scripture as the god of this world. Till date, he holds
sway over people’s lives and communities. For us to dislodge him out of people’s
lives and communities, we must be committed to concerted prayers.
You can bring down the kingdom of God in your compound, street, office, school,
village, nation by your prayer.
Bringing down the kingdom of God is another critical reason why we must be men
and women of prayer.

3. To Operate in the will of God - V.10.
Being at the center of God’s will is sweet and fulfilling.
Prayer is essential to knowing and doing the will of God.
Many of our young people are going through time of crisis today in the choice of
life partner, career, etc just because of prayerlessness. Prayer will help you
discern God’s will for your life and also help you submit to that will.

4. To Receive our Daily Provisions - V.11
The Almighty God is our El-Shaddai. He is more than enough.
As a responsible and reliable Father, He is committed to providing for our needs
on a daily basis. Prayer gives us the access to receiving His daily provision for our
lives.

5. To Receive Forgiveness for our Sins - V.12.
Man’s greatest problem is sin. Jesus came to save us from our sins. He paid the full price
for our sins past, present and the future. While Christians don’t sin deliberately, we do
fall into it once in a while. God has made provision through prayer for us to receive His
forgiveness through confession and repentance.

6. To Offer Forgiveness to those who have Offended us - V.12, 14-15.
The condition for us to receive forgiveness of our sins is that we all must forgive
those who have offended us. Failure to do so would make the heavens to be
closed to us. It also means we are sitting in the place of God - Gen. 50:19.
God expects us to forgive people who have offended us regardless of the gravity of
their sins. Prayer offers us the opportunity of forgiving all who have hurt us. Lk.
11:24-25.

7. To Shield us from Temptation - V.13; Matt. 26:41-41.
Believers are faced with temptations everyday. Part of Satan’s daily schedule is to
set traps for God’s people - Jn. 10:10b. Living a prayerful life helps to shield us
from the many temptations that come our way on a daily basis - Lk.22:31-32, 39.

8. To Secure Victory over the evil one - V.8.
Christ has made us over-comers through His finished work on the cross - 1Jn.5:4;
Rev. 12:11. We are truly m