"Westerners tend to be mechanistic in our worldview. Angels and demons do not belong in our Newtonian universe, and there are many Christians who doubt or deny the existence of a personal devil. Their thinking is that the devil is an antiquated way of explaining phenomena that we now understand better and have different words to describe. What the ancients called demonization, we call mental illness, and so forth. In practice, Westerners sometimes update these parts of the Bible to fit their mechanistic worldview.
Those who doubt the devil's existence might be interested in reading C. S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters . One of the devil's favorite temptations, muses Lewis, is to tempt us to disbelieve in his existence so he can go about his affairs unnoticed. Lewis chides, 'There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors, and hail a materialist and a magician with the same delight.' Allow me to suggest two cautions for any reader who might have a hard time praying 'rescue us from the evil one' to include the devil.
First, Jesus taught this prayer, and he even prays this way for his disciples: 'I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one' (John 17:15). We call him Lord and revere his teaching, as we should. So we should respect his teaching regarding evil as being personally directed by the devil. Few of the requests in the Lord's Prayer fit our natural inclinations but in each of them Jesus teaches us something essential about our walk with God and the practice of prayer. He devotes one-sixth of his compendium on prayer to the subject of spiritual warfare and the wiles of the devil. If Jesus is right, ignoring the devil's existence is foolish. Facts that we do not face squarely have a habit of stabbing us in the back!
Second, we should listen to our Christian brothers and sisters around the world who testify to the reality of spiritual warfare. Countless Christians witness to the importance of this sixth petition of the Lord's Prayer as they seek to know Christ and to make Christ known. Jesus taught us to pray 'rescue us from the evil one.' Those who obey him in this matter have found new spiritual power and solutions to problems that could not be solved in conventional ways. Their experience explains the understanding of the earliest Christians that they needed to 'put on the whole armor of God' in order to 'stand against the wiles of the devil' (Ephesians 6:11).
For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers
of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so
that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand therefore, and fasten the
belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you
ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming
arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray in the Spirit at all
times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints.
(Ephesians 6:12-18)
Then and now, Christians have found spiritual warfare to be part and parcel of a walk with God.
This is not to claim that there is a demon behind everything that goes wrong. Our increased understanding of mental illness has led to many treatments that relieve people's suffering. But there are many patients who do not respond to treatment, and their mental problems may well have a spiritual cause. As C. Peter Wagner puts it, we shouldn't think that there is a demon behind every bush, but 'demons are, in fact, behind some bushes.' If nothing else, it is wise to remain open to spiritual explanations of physical and psychological problems, as well as biological and mechanical explanations.
Temptation is a part of the Christian life. It comes from all quarters, within and without. We are tempted to remain bitter, to hate, to fear, to gossip, to lust, to be selfish, to be self-righteous, to give up -- and the list goes on. Furthermore, we often face circumstances that test our mettle as believers. These trials subject our faith to a stress test and build character in us. We should face all trials, tests and temptations prayerfully, seeking deliverance from the circumstances and opponents we face." pgs 110-112
- Brian J. Dodd
from: http://www.amazon.com/Praying-Jesus-Way-Beginners-Veterans/dp/0830819932/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1355770168&sr=8-1&keywords=praying+jesus%27+way+brian+j.+dodd
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