“Keep me safe, LORD, from the hands of the wicked; protect me from the violent, who devise ways to trip my feet.” Psalm 140:4
I think many times when we think about praying for others, or specifically for the protection of those we love, we may feel we are asking too much of God. So, I wanted to introduce two ideas about prayers for those we want to protect. One is that prayer involves an active participation, and second is that we need to have a support system to help us in our prayers. A story in the bible that really jumps out to me is that of Moses and the battle with the Amalekites. During this battle Moses goes to an adjacent mountain and raises his arms with his staff to protect his army below. However, he does get tired, and has to sit. Eventually he becomes more fatigued and Aaron and Hur must hold up his arms on either side. When his arms are raised, the Israelites are winning and when he drops his arms, they lose. I think this translates well into our prayers for those we wish to protect.
Active participation
When we pray, it cannot be a passive conversation. It must be something we give time and effort to like any other task. What does that mean? This means having an investment in the words we are saying, as well as believing that what we ask for shall happen. How many times have we thrown a prayer into the wind halfheartedly, forgetting we prayed for it, or not giving it a follow up thought. When we do that, we belittle the power that Christ has to give answers to our plea. Saying our prayers for those we love with faith in our words and hope in our hearts that it will be answered is an active way to raise our arms to the Lord in our prayers.
Support systems
Also, when it comes to prayer we need to know it is okay to be human, to grow weary. This past year especially we have grown tired; praying for the same things repeatedly and maybe losing some hope in the power of our prayers. This is when it is important to find your people, your tribe. We have this innate embarrassment to ask for help, it is no different in prayer. But we must be as Moses- asking his friends to help raise his arms in prayer so he can protect those he loves. Just as we find people who can relate and help with other parts of our lives- moms groups, homeschool groups, work colleagues, workout partners etc. we must do the same in finding our prayer support group. Maker’s would love to be that for you, all you have to do is ask!
Call to action
So today let’s do three simple things:
1. Write down the names of two people you want the Lord to look out for and protect
2. Find one group, set of friends or family that you want to be your prayer tribe
3. Send those two names to your tribe, and pray together each day for their protection, strength and awareness of God’s grace
Written by Cat Rogers, Makers Digital Prayer Leader