Prayer and Protection

John the Elder wrote his epistles with the wisdom of 90 years of hard life experience. He lists many things we may “know” as members of God’s family, things that bring us confidence and comfort. He writes that we may know we have eternal life, that God is love, and that requests made to Him in His name will be heard. He continues with a heart warming truth, “We know that we are children of God,” -- and then finishes with a splash of ice cold reality, “and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.” {1 John 5:19}

John sharply reminds us that at a time of spiritual war, we live deep inside enemy territory – in full view of the enemy! Why are we not destroyed? The prior verse explains, “the ONE (emphasis added) who was born of God keeps him (us) safe, and the evil one cannot harm him.”

God Himself protects us in answer to the prayer of His Son, Jesus, who said, “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.” {John 17:15-16}

The longest prayer of Jesus recorded in Scripture contains the issue of protection as one of its major components. To pray for protection while in this fallen world is to pray in the pattern of Jesus Christ. We are immersed in enemy territory. We do have a mission in this war. The enemy is aware of us and unhappy with our presence. And we do have communication with our Protector – the same communication that Jesus had when He walked among us. We have prayer.

Let’s enjoy the confidence and comforts of God’s promises to us; but not lose sight of our absolute dependency upon God for safety, moment by moment. The way to remain conscious of this dependence, by the example of Jesus, is to pray.