How sweet it is to hear a soul pleading the very prayer our Lord taught His disciples, Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, and that petition which suits your present need, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Your cry for gratitude, forgiveness, rest, peace and deliverance has been heard, and we join our hearts with yours before the throne of grace.
You ask for forgiveness and for grace to forgive, and for mercy to remove evil from your home and your person. Know this, that forgiveness is to be found alone through the blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, which cleanses from all sin all who truly repent and believe in Him. Swifter than the lightning flash is the glance from the eye of God that conveys peace and pardon to the soul that trusts in Jesus. Time is out of the question with the God of everlasting love, and when the Holy Spirit carries pardon to the heart, faith is wrought there, and true repentance is born as its twin brother.
Take heed that your repentance be not of the flesh only, which is but fallen nature washed and brushed, yet still fallen nature, a transient repentance which soon withers. Any repentance that keeps you from believing in Christ is a repentance that needs to be repented of. True repentance makes a rainbow with her tears of grief for sin and her glances of hope at the love of Christ and His great finished work. She stands at the Cross and sees sin forgiven, and then repents more than ever. So look unto Him and be saved, all the ends of the earth. Look out of yourself and away from yourself, and look to Christ. The veil is rent. Sin, the great divider, has been removed by His blood, and you may now draw near with boldness.
You pray to rebuke the evil one and to be delivered from his power. This is indeed a fiery dart of Satan which is constantly shot against the people of God, and it would make you doubt your own Father. But our God is mighty to deliver. When the soul seemed about to be dragged down to the pit, a voice came from the excellent Glory, Deliver him from going down to the pit. He can hear the King's own voice crying from the throne itself, Deliver him. It is not by your strength that the enemy must flee, but by the mighty grace and power of Christ. In His name the battle bow shall be cut off and He shall speak peace.
You seek rest and peace. There are two peaces, the peace of the devil and the peace of God. False peace is as stupefying and deadly as opium, a soul borne up upon waters of false peace until it is stranded in self despair. But the peace of God is sound, judged to be sound by the Judge of all the earth, peace from lips that cannot lie, peace through the blood which has made a full atonement. Like the dove of Noah, you have sought rest for the soles of your feet, flying here and there until you find the olive leaf of peace. That peace is found in Christ, and it is peace in the time of tempest and peace after storm. When the Holy Spirit applies the Book to the soul, every grief may be allayed, every right desire satisfied, and all wrong desires be ejected from the spirit.
And for gratitude, remember that the Lord has chastened you sorely but has not given you over unto death. Troubles do not spring out of the dust, but the Lord Himself kindles the furnace and sits as a Refiner. Your part, after affliction and deliverance, is to say, I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord.
Let us pray with you. O Heavenly Father, hallowed be thy name, we thank thee for this day and for thy daily bread. Forgive this thy child as thou hast promised to forgive all who repent and believe on thy Son, and heal all unforgiveness of heart, granting true evangelical repentance which flows from pardon. Lead not into temptation, but deliver from the evil one. By thy grace and mercy, rebuke all evil from this home and this person, and grant rest and that peace which passeth all understanding through the blood of Jesus. Preserve thy saint and cause this soul to trust wholly in Christ alone for salvation, to walk by faith with repentance as a companion all the way to the celestial city. In the precious name of Jesus Christ, our only hope, Amen.
