Praying For Protection

Praying for Protection

No weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD. Isaiah 54:17, ESV

THE WORLD IS FULL OF DANGERS. We face numerous threats to our spiritual, emotional, mental, relational, physical, and financial well-being. We are fed a constant stream of headlines about crime, terrorism, health crises, social discord, leadership abuses, international conflict, and local mischief. We face spiritual deception at every turn and desperately want to protect our loved ones against it. We struggle with worries, fears, and anxieties deep in our hearts and minds. Inside and out, we are living in the presence of potential harm.

Sounds frightening, doesn’t it? Yet God is infinitely bigger than all of these concerns. He has given numerous promises about shepherding his sheep, caring for his beloved, watching over our lives, and protecting us from harm. He tells us no weapon formed against us will prosper, no evil will touch us, no plague will come near our home, and we can rest in the shadow of his wings (Psalm 91). He is our rock, our fortress, and our deliverer (Psalm 18:2). Yes, we will encounter tribulation in this world. But Jesus has overcome the world, and therefore all the tribulation in it (John 16:33). We have nothing to fear.

That doesn’t mean that no bad thing will ever happen to God’s people. “Many are the afflictions of the righteous” (Psalm 34:19, ESV). But we can be certain that God is walking with us through every trial and tribulation, mediating the threats that come against us, caring for us even in the valley of the shadow of death, and zealously guarding our eternal well-being. In both practical and ultimate ways, he is our guardian, shield, and protector. He has our back.

When we pray for protection, then, we are fully in line with the promises God has given us. We can pray in confident faith for his loving care over us and our families. We can base our prayers on his Word, knowing he will honor it for those who respond to him in trust. We are always under the watchful eye of our Father, and he will never let us down.

There is never a fear that has not a corresponding “Fear not.”