The final petition of the Lord’s Prayer is similar to the petition just before, but with an increased urgency and slightly different focus. The previous chapter reflected on the sixth petition—“Lead us not into temptation”—by which we ask God to keep us from being overwhelmed by the temptations or trials we face. It’s a humble admission that we are weak and in need of His strength to understand those temptations and trials as divinely permitted tests that can ultimately draw us into greater holiness, leading to a fuller participation in God’s Kingdom and His eternal glory. That petition is more preventive, seeking grace not to become obsessed or to despair over our afflictions, but to remain hopeful and persevere to the end through every divinely permitted test.
In this final petition, our plea intensifies. In addition to the temptation and trials we face, we acknowledge the presence, power, and effects of the evil one: the devil or satan. We pray for liberation from him, all of his evil works, and the threat of eternal damnation. This petition is a prayer for deliverance, protection, and eternal hope.
“In this petition, evil is not an abstraction, but refers to a person, Satan, the Evil One, the angel who opposes God. The devil (dia-bolos) is the one who “throws himself across” God’s plan and his work of salvation accomplished in Christ” (CCC #2851).
Overcoming the Evil One
The Greek phrase for the seventh petition—“Deliver us from evil”—is rhysai hēmas apo tou ponērou. The verb rhysai means “rescue,” “deliver,” or “snatch away,” and, like the first five petitions, is in the aorist imperative form—expressing an urgent, decisive appeal for divine intervention and conveying a sense of immediacy and completeness. It views the act of deliverance as something definitive and total, rather than ongoing or partial. Recall from the previous chapter that the petition “Lead us not into temptation” is the only petition not in the aorist imperative form. Instead, it uses the aorist subjunctive to express a humble request or reverent prohibition—do not allow us to enter into temptation, or let us not yield to it.
The phrase apo tou ponērou is translated as “from evil” or, more precisely, “from the evil one.” The word ponēros can refer to evil in general, but the use of the definite article (tou) strongly suggests a personal force—satan, the evil one. Thus, this petition is a direct plea for deliverance from the devil himself and all his works, better rendered as “Deliver us from the evil one.” This seventh petition, then, moves from the humble request made in the sixth petition—that God sustain us in times of temptation and trial—to an urgent cry for total protection from the evil one and all the spiritual harm he seeks to inflict.
Demonology
Sacred Scripture and the Tradition of the Church affirm the existence of demons—fallen angels who rebelled against God through pride and were cast out of Heaven. Though they retain their natural powers as spiritual beings, they now use these powers to oppose God’s plan and the sanctification of souls. Satan, their leader, is called “the prince of this world” (John 12:31) and “the father of lies” (John 8:44). His primary goal is to accuse, deceive, divide, and destroy what God has created and redeemed.
As the Catechism teaches, the devil is “‘[a] murderer from the beginning,…a liar and the father of lies,’ Satan is ‘the deceiver of the whole world.’ Through him sin and death entered the world and by his definitive defeat all creation will be ‘freed from the corruption of sin and death’” (CCC #2852).
Demonic attacks vary in intensity and purpose. At times, they are subtle, working through suggestion, confusion, or emotional manipulation. Other times, especially when a soul draws near to God in holiness or when an individual or society opens itself to grave sin, the attacks become more direct—manifesting as obsession, oppression, or, in rare cases, bodily possession. Yet, even in such severe cases, demons cannot directly possess or control the soul’s spiritual faculties—the intellect and free will. The Church, through her spiritual discernment and pastoral care—including the ministry of exorcism—recognizes and confronts these realities. Demons cannot touch the inner sanctuary of the soul except in the ways that God permits and never beyond what grace can overcome. Nevertheless, demons’ hatred is real, and their efforts fierce.
The seventh petition—“Deliver us from the evil one”—is our daily acknowledgment of this unseen war. It is a plea not only for protection from temptation and trial, but for deliverance from the malicious will of intelligent spiritual beings whose singular aim is our eternal ruin. By this prayer, we entrust ourselves fully to God’s power, confident that “the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).
When the Battle Intensifies
Similar to the sixth petition, which begs God for the grace to endure trials and overcome temptations, this seventh petition does the same—but with a heightened urgency and intensity. The difference lies in the source. In the sixth petition, we ask for grace to overcome any form of suffering permitted by God’s Providence: illness, loss, persecution, injustice, or even internal temptation born of weakness or disorder, as well as temptations God permits. These tests, while painful, are not always directly tied to a personal source of evil—demons.
The seventh petition, however, recognizes a more direct and dangerous form of trial—those that the evil one actively and intentionally inflicts on us. It is a plea not just for strength amid hardship, but for decisive deliverance from the diabolical will of satan, whose purpose is not simply to weaken but to destroy. This is an intensified battle: “Be sober and vigilant. Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in faith, knowing that your fellow believers throughout the world undergo the same sufferings” (1 Peter 5:8–9).
Imagine a woman struggling with addiction. In the context of the sixth petition, she might experience an internal temptation—an urge to return to using opioids, stirred by memories or emotional weakness. With God’s grace, she resists. But now consider a darker scenario: her former dealer shows up uninvited, offering drugs for free, accompanied by pressure, manipulation, or even spiritual intimidation. This is no longer just internal temptation—it is an external, targeted attack. The evil one uses others, circumstances, or even demons themselves to ensnare the soul with deliberate malice. The seventh petition is a plea for deliverance from these intensified assaults.
The evil one sometimes employs all his natural powers—seduction, intimidation, manipulation, deceit, and accusation—driven by his vile hatred and insatiable pride. When the devil does attack more directly, we must respond with greater urgency and humility, begging God for an even greater outpouring of His protection. In such moments, this seventh petition becomes a spiritual lifeline, a desperate cry from the battlefield: Deliver us, Father, from the evil one and all his works!
Examples from History
It’s important to recognize moments throughout history when the evil one’s influence has manifested with extraordinary clarity—whether through individuals, ideologies, or widespread moral corruption. These are not mere human failings but intensified diabolical assaults, in which satan and his demons appear to gain significant influence over cultures, movements, or even entire societies.
For example, consider the rise of totalitarian regimes in the twentieth century, particularly Nazism and Communism. Both ideologies explicitly denied God and systematically sought to replace Him with the idolatry of state, race, or class, directly leading to the slaughter of millions. Pope Pius XII, along with numerous spiritual and theological writers of that era, recognized these movements not merely as political phenomena but as profound spiritual crises rooted in humanity’s rejection of God. The horrifying inhumanity seen in the Holocaust, Stalin’s mass purges, and widespread repression of religious freedom reveals a deep-seated hatred toward the image of God imprinted upon every human soul—a disturbing hallmark of diabolical rage.
Another example is the cultural descent into the “culture of death” in modern times. Widespread acceptance of abortion, euthanasia, the distortion of human sexuality, and the redefinition of the family are not just societal shifts but coordinated attacks on the foundations of life and love as willed by God. As Pope Saint John Paul II warned in his encyclical Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life), we are confronted by a “structure of sin” which “takes the form of a veritable ‘culture of death.’” This results in a diabolical attack on the most vulnerable—especially the unborn, weak, and the elderly—who are dehumanized and discarded.
This intensified battle on a personal level is also found in the lives of certain saints. Saint John Vianney endured nightly assaults from the devil as he drew countless souls to repentance. Saint Padre Pio was likewise tormented physically and spiritually by demonic forces, due to his extraordinary spiritual gifts and ministry of confession. These saints remind us that holiness invites opposition—but also that Christ’s victory is assured for those who remain faithful.
These moments of intensified evil remind us why we pray: “Deliver us from the evil one.” They call us, as members of the Mystical Body of Christ, to vigilance, courage, and, above all, to confident trust in the power of Christ, Who came into the world “to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). In every age, the Lord raises up saints and shepherds to confront evil, and the power of this petition endures as both shield and sword in the battle for souls.
Examples from Your Life
Have you ever witnessed such intense hatred or irrational behavior that, in shock, you found yourself saying, “That makes no sense!” Evil is always irrational. It is not founded on truth but on hatred and destruction. When the attacks of the evil one intensify, the faithful are often mystified, confused, or shaken by the sheer disorder of it. Evil never “makes sense” to the rational mind.
Disorientation is one of the devil’s tactics. If he cannot lure us into sin, he will try to paralyze us with fear and confusion to prevent us from cooperating with God’s grace. His goal is to thwart divine action in our lives by undermining our peace, trust, and hope. These tactics must be identified, exposed, and rebuked in the Name of Jesus Christ—firmly, confidently, and with spiritual authority rooted in grace.
Often, such attacks are not presented through rational arguments or clear accusations; they are subtle and intensely personal. The fear, confusion, and emotional unrest they invoke disrupts the peace of our interior life and our relationships with others. These diabolical disturbances can arise within families, workplaces, communities, and systems of governance—any sphere of human interaction.
Sometimes, the evil one tries to humiliate or intimidate a soul, leaving it in a cloud of darkness and doubt. When this happens, our sure defense is this final petition of the Lord’s Prayer. It is a spiritual sword in our hands and a shield for our hearts. In praying it with faith, we entrust ourselves to the God Who is our refuge and stronghold, Who will never abandon His children.
If you find yourself under such attack, remember to turn to your source of strength and victory—Jesus Christ. The demonic assaults leveled against Him were irrational, relentless, and filled with blind hatred. He did nothing to deserve them but endured them fully and emerged victorious. Through His Cross, He conquered satan and all his works. When we unite ourselves to His Passion, we share in that victory and are delivered from evil—not by our strength, but by His.
Rely, also, on the maternal intercession and protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary. United with her Son, they are the true victors. We will be victorious with them when we rely on their authority over the evil one:
“Victory over the ‘prince of this world’ was won once for all at the Hour when Jesus freely gave himself up to death to give us his life. This is the judgment of this world, and the prince of this world is ‘cast out.’ ‘He pursued the woman’ but had no hold on her: the new Eve, ‘full of grace’ of the Holy Spirit, is preserved from sin and the corruption of death (the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption of the Most Holy Mother of God, Mary, ever virgin). ‘Then the dragon was angry with the woman, and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring.’ Therefore the Spirit and the Church pray: ‘Come, Lord Jesus,’ since his coming will deliver us from the Evil One” (CCC #2853).
Praying the Lord’s Prayer is Our Remedy
Let us consider one final passage from the Catechism of the Catholic Church (#2854), which offers us our sure and certain hope of overcoming every attack from the evil one:
“When we ask to be delivered from the Evil One, we pray as well to be freed from all evils, present, past, and future, of which he is the author or instigator. In this final petition, the Church brings before the Father all the distress of the world. Along with deliverance from the evils that overwhelm humanity, she implores the precious gift of peace and the grace of perseverance in expectation of Christ’s return. By praying in this way, she anticipates in humility of faith the gathering together of everyone and everything in him who has ‘the keys of Death and Hades,’ who ‘is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.’
Deliver us, Lord, we beseech you, from every evil and grant us peace in our day, so that aided by your mercy we might be ever free from sin and protected from all anxiety, as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
From the Lowest to the Highest
In one sense, the lowest moments we experience on earth are those in which the attacks of the evil one are most intense. These are “lowest” not because of our defeat, but because we come face to face with the lowest and most fallen of all God’s creatures: the evil one himself.
Through the Lord’s Prayer, we are invited to confront those moments, not with fear but with faith, trusting in the Father’s perfect protection and providential care. When we pray this final petition with full intentionality, clarity, and our deepest conviction, God does more than shield us. He draws us into the heights of His own glory, transforming those lowest moments into the highest manifestation of His power and glory. He places us among the Celestial Hierarchy, where we join in their eternal hymn: “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty, Who was, and Who is, and Who is to come!”
Even the evil one’s most ferocious attacks can become occasions of divine glory when we surrender to grace and allow Christ’s victory to be lived out in us. As our Lord said, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna” (Matthew 10:28).
The evil one cannot cast us into Gehenna. He has no such authority. Only God, in His perfect Justice, holds that power. Therefore, when we foster within our souls the Gift of the Fear of the Lord—a gift that makes us vigilant in avoiding everything that offends His divine majesty and strong in rejecting the evil one’s lies and tactics—we are equipped with all we need to overcome every demonic assault.
Because “The beginning of wisdom is fear of the LORD” (Proverbs 9:10), we now turn to the Gift of Wisdom as our necessary light and guide, the summit of the sevenfold Spirit, and the crowning gift for those who persevere in the victory of Christ.
Gift of the Holy Spirit: Wisdom
Saints Augustine and Thomas Aquinas associate “Deliver us from evil” with the Gift of Wisdom, one of the seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit. This divine gift perfects the theological virtue of charity by allowing the soul to:
- Judge all things in the light of God.
- Taste the sweetness of Divine Truth.
- Experience—not merely know—God Himself.
Through Wisdom, the soul gains a foretaste of the Beatific Vision. This experiential knowledge deepens our intimacy with God and enables us to:
- Love what God loves.
- Detest what is opposed to Him.
In the context of this petition, the Gift of Wisdom enables the faithful to:
- Perceive the horror and reality of evil—not only externally, but in its essence as the rejection of God.
- Long to be separated from everything contrary to God’s holiness.
- Understand that the true enemy is not merely external danger, but the evil one, sin, and anything that threatens eternal union with God.
Thus, when we pray “Deliver us from evil,” we are above all pleading:
- To be preserved from the evil one.
- To be delivered from the dominion of sin.
- To be protected from all that could sever our union with God.
Wisdom—the highest of the Gifts—sharpens our spiritual vision. It reveals:
- The subtle deceits of the enemy.
- The emptiness of worldly promises.
- The incomparable glory of divine love.
With the Gift of Wisdom, we are taught to see:
- Life, suffering, joy, and even death through the lens of eternity.
- That no evil—however great—can overcome the one who rests in the heart of Divine Love.
The soul, illuminated by Wisdom, clings to God with unwavering trust and longs for perfect union with Him, confident in His saving power.
The Beatitude: “Blessed Are the Peacemakers”
Saints Augustine and Thomas Aquinas associate the seventh petition with the seventh Beatitude: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9). To ask to be delivered from evil is not merely a prayer for personal safety—it is a plea to become conformed to God’s peace and to extend that peace to a world ensnared by sin and division.
The true peacemaker is not one who merely avoids conflict, but one who actively restores right order through the power of grace. Peace, in its fullness, is the tranquility of order—order that begins in the soul, flows outward into our relationships, and culminates in communion with God. The peacemaker is one who is delivered from evil within and thus becomes a vessel of divine reconciliation without.
This Beatitude calls us to imitate Christ, the Prince of Peace, who by His Cross destroyed the enmity between Heaven and earth. Through Him, we are not only made at peace with God, but are commissioned to become agents of that peace. We can only do this if we ourselves are first delivered from evil: from the slavery of sin, from hatred, from pride, and from every influence that disrupts the interior harmony of grace.
Therefore, when we pray “Deliver us from evil,” we are also praying to become peacemakers—souls so fully reconciled to God that we carry His peace into the world. And in doing so, we are called “children of God,” for we bear the likeness of the Son who reconciled all things in Himself.
Aligning Our Desires
This final petition of the Lord’s Prayer draws our hearts to a decisive point: the recognition that true deliverance comes only when we are pure of heart and our desires are fully aligned with the will of God. Every spiritual battle, every temptation, and every trial exposes not only the evil one’s tactics, but also the disorder within our own hearts. The devil works most effectively where there is weakness, confusion, or attachment to sin. We must pray not only for external protection but for interior transformation. It is a cry for our hearts to desire what God desires, so that evil loses its grip.
Wisdom as Your Weapon
Temptation is powerful when our hearts are divided. But when our hearts are guided by Divine Wisdom, we become singly focused on God. Evil is unmasked and loses its persuasive power. The wise see the world clearly because they see with the eyes of God. They do not merely ask to be spared from evil; they ask to be so transformed that evil no longer holds appeal. This is the essence of spiritual maturity.
- What do I truly desire?
- Do I long for comfort more than for holiness?
- Do I seek safety more than surrender?
- Do I crave affirmation more than truth?
- Do I fear evil more than I love God?
This petition, when prayed from the heart, helps reorder these misplaced desires according to the mind of God. It teaches us not to see evil as something to be feared, but as something to be conquered in Christ. It reminds us that true freedom is not freedom from suffering or opposition, but freedom from sin. The goal is not just to survive spiritual warfare; it is to emerge from it sanctified, victorious, and fully conformed to Christ, crying out “Abba, Father” and “Hallowed be Thy Name!,” even in the midst of every test God permits.
To align our desires with this petition is to welcome God’s grace in the midst of spiritual affliction. It is to proclaim with the angels and saints that we are in the hands of my Father, even in the midst of the storm. The soul that prays this way is not paralyzed by the evil one’s threats, giving into temptation or obsession, but propelled toward Heaven by a deeper confidence in the Father’s love.
Rejecting satan
Every petition of the Lord’s Prayer draws us deeper into union with God, and this final plea, prayed from the lowest place of diabolical attacks, frees us from the enemy, from our fears, our pride, and our disordered attachments so that we can rise to the highest place of God’s Kingdom. When that deliverance takes place within, evil has no more claim, and God reigns.
On Easter each year, and at various other liturgical celebrations, we are invited to renew our baptismal promises. The first of those promises is a triple rejection of satan, all his works, and all his empty show. Profess those here and make them a perpetual prayer:
- Do you reject Satan? I do.
- And all his works? I do.
- And all his empty show? I do.
An alternate version in the Roman Missal is equally as powerful:
- Do you renounce sin so as to live in the freedom of the children of God? I do.
- Do you renounce the lure of evil, so that sin may have no mastery over you? I do.
- Do you renounce Satan, the author and prince of sin? I do.
Renouncing the evil one is not enough. Once rejected, we are invited to make a triple profession of our faith in God through the words of the Creed. Use that profession of faith every time you feel attacked by the evil one:
- Do you believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth? I do.
- Do you believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was born of the Virgin Mary, suffered death and was buried, rose again from the dead and is seated at the right hand of the Father? I do.
- Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting? I do.
In your darkest hour, do not cry out in fear, but in faith—faith in the One who has already triumphed. Reject satan, his works and his lies, and profess your faith in God. Unite your desire with the entire Church, pleading that victory be made complete in all of us, so that in every battle we face, we may say with confidence: “Deliver us, O Lord, from the evil one.”
Let Us Pray:
Father of ours, the One in the Heavens, protect us from the evil one, from his every attack, and from the eternal damnation he desires for us. We are Your children in Christ, Your beloved sons and daughters; protect us with Your Fatherly care. When You do permit the vile attacks of the evil one, I know that it is for my good and the good of all Your children. With the whole Church, in those moments, I cry out, “Holy, Holy, Holy are You, Lord God the Almighty, Who is, Who was, and Who is to come, now and forever. Amen, Amen, Amen!
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