PRAYING A HEDGE AROUND YOUR LOVED ONES
Hedges are used for beauty and for protection. The Brick House —In Pursuit of Stronger Lives reminds us that they also must be maintained.
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. John 10:11
A Christian friend of mine shared with me that she prays for God to put a hedge of protection around her family. I did not know to do this when my children were young and I am sorry that I did not. It is biblical and failing to do so may have caused my children unnecessary grief for which I am very sorry.
Christians are protected by the Good Shepherd, but He admonishes us to pray and He does hear:
And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night to him, though he bear long with them? Luke 18:7
God speaks in several places of removing the ‘hedge’ when people sin. Satan falsely accused Job saying Job was only righteous because God put a hedge around Job. God tells us He wants us to be a hedge for others:
And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none. Ezekiel 22:30
At Scriptural Prayer there is a beautiful prayer based upon scripture.
Psalm 91 is a beautiful picture of a life hedged in and protected by God.
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.2 I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. 3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. 4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. 5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; 6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. 7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. 8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. 9 Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; 10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. 11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. 12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. 13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. 14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. 15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. 16 With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.
PRAYING AS KING ASA PRAYED
And Asa cried to the LORD (YHWH) his God, “O LORD, there is none like You to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O LORD our God, for we rely on You, and in your name we have come against this multitude. O LORD, You are our God; let not man prevail against You.”
BIBLICAL PICTURE OF A LIFE HEDGED IN BY OUR GOD
HOPE FOR THOSE WHO MAY HAVE BEEN UNPROTECTED
If we have failed in the past, it isn’t too late to help either ourself or our loved ones if we are in God’s army. The same weapon that will put a hedge around us will also destroy the things that may have entered through a breach earlier.
For the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but divinely powerful toward the demolition of strongholds, overthrowing arguments, and every high thing lifting itself up against the knowledge of God, and taking captive every thought into the obedience of Christ, and having readiness within to avenge all disobedience, when your obedience may have been fulfilled. 2 Corinthians 10:4-6
For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it pierces even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Hebrews 4:12
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made…
That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not…
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”
John 1:1-3, 9-10, 14 KJV
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