It is Good To talk

Our Father in heaven,<br />
May your holy name be honoured;<br />
May your kingdom come,<br />
May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven;<br />
Give us today the food we need;  <br />
Forgive us the wrong we have done,<br />
As we forgive the wrong that others have done to us;<br />
Do not bring us to hard testing, but deliver us from the Evil One.<br />
(Matthew 6:9-13)<br />
<h4>The final request</h4>
<p>
Having prayed for the forgiveness of our own sin – having first forgiven those who have wronged us - it is not a great surprise to discover that the ‘Lord’s Prayer’ leads on to the question of evil – and our need to be delivered from the power and influence of the ‘Evil One’.</p>
<h4>The question of evil</h4>
<p>
Few of us doubt that evil exists and that it operates in different levels. Both nations and individuals are capable of committing the most indescribable acts of evil.
Overlooking the Western Wall of the temple in Jerusalem, six large stars reflect the sun’s rays. These stars represent the 6,000,000 Jewish victims of the Nazi Holocaust. This vast number of deaths was not the result of an appalling accident or combat but the result of a political policy to rid several European countries of Jewish influence during the Second World War. That was incredible evil on a national scale!</p>
<h4>Individual evil</h4>
<p>
Examples of individual acts of evil may affect fewer victims yet still involve the death of humans in just as cold and calculating a manner as any committed on a national scale. Recently, police recovered the bodies of two young women from the garden of a house 3 miles away. The man under arrest may be responsible for these and several other murders around the country. Clearly, evil people exist and are capable of committing the foulest crimes without conscience or fear of retribution.</p>
<h4>Evil personified</h4>
<p>
Nations and individuals are capable of such things as the result of fallen human nature. But the Bible makes it clear that evil exists in person – Satan, the Devil. A fallen angel, he opposes God and tempts God’s people to sin. Demons and evil spirits serve him and are capable of oppressing and possessing humans whom they entrap by their lies and cunning. The Bible says Satan is a master of disguise, he can even appear as an angel of light. At other times he also goes around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.</p>
<h4>Jesus, the Victor</h4>
<p>
The earthly ministry of Jesus unleashed the full onslaught of Satanic activity. Jesus confronted the Evil One in the wilderness for 40 days and nights. He was tempted to turn stones into bread, to leap from a high point in the temple, and to bow down and worship Satan, in order to receive the kingdoms of the world without dying on a cross (read these in the New Testament - Matthew 4:1-11; Mark 1:9-13; Luke 4:1-13). Every temptation was overcome by Jesus quoting an appropriate Bible truth.</p>
<h4>Jesus, Master and Lord</h4>
<p>
Having triumphed over the Devil himself, Jesus was able to exercise authority over those demons who oppressed and possessed the lives of others. Later, in his death on the cross, Jesus finally stripped Satan of his power and restricted his activity until the Day of Judgement. He awaits his destruction in the Lake of Fire. Be sure that God is both willing and able to rescue from the Evil One all who call on him in prayer.</p>
<h4>Finally</h4>
<p>
Some manuscripts, though not the oldest ones, end the ‘Lord’s Prayer’ prayer with a doxology: ‘For yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen. This may not be original but it is so helpful in reminding us how great God is, how important is his kingdom, how able he is to provide for our daily needs, to pardon our sins, and to save us from the deceptions of the Evil One.
If we can end our prayer with, ‘I ask it for your glory’s sake’ then we are learning how to pray and to trust God to provide for our truly essential needs. 
Having talked together about prayer, it is time to talk to God in prayer – and discover how good it is to talk!
Michael Toogood</p>