Each of us in our own life can easily relate to this petition: “Deliver us from evil”.
We may have many areas of spiritual bondage which may have occurred over the
years, some of which we may not have yet identified as such.  One of the deceptions
of the evil one is to enslave us while at the same time convincing us that we don’t
have a problem. An addicted alcoholic or gambler, drug user or extremely
overweight person may seek to rationalize the situation rather than admit it. We may
have deep resentments, unforgiveness and unresolved anger and hate, which have
festered in our hearts for a long period of time. We may feel inadequate, insecure;
our self-esteem may be very low. We may have some deep fears, which control our
life and limit our ability to cope with aspects of reality. We may find that depression is
more the norm than the exception. In all of these, no matter how hard we seem to try
on the human level, we can’t seem to overcome the effects they have in our lives.

There is a story I would like share dealing with the effect of evil in our lives. It was
advertised that the devil was going to put his tools up for sale. On the date of the sale,
the tools were placed for public inspection; each tool being marked with its sale price.
They were a treacherous lot of implements...Hatred, Envy,  Jealousy, Deceit, Lying,
Pride, and so on. Laid apart from the rest was a harmless looking tool, well worn  and
priced very high. "What is the name of this tool?" asked one of the purchasers, pointing
 to it. That is Discouragement", replied the devil. "Why have you priced it so high?"
"Because it is more useful to me than the others. I can pry open and get inside a man's
 heart with that when I cannot get near  him with my other tools. Once I get inside, I
can make him do what I choose. It is badly worn because I use it on almost everyone,
since very few people know that it belongs to me." (To be continued)