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Praying a Hedge of Protection

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Praying a Hedge of Protection

Previously I wrote a post about praying a “hedge of thorns” around someone as a type of prayer could be prayed on behalf of a person that might be wandering off track or pursuing things or people that may not be good for them. Similarly, another form of prayer is praying a hedge of protection. A hedge of thorns is for protection also but just a little more specific when praying to keep someone from someone or something. A hedge of protection can be a more general prayer when we want to just ask God to build up a wall of protection or a type of shield as a defense against any kind of harm that might come near.

“Hedge of protection” is used as a metaphor for protection. A hedge is simply just a barrier, border, or boundary surrounding or enclosing something or providing a means of protection or defense. We can ask God to create a safety barrier surrounding us that can protect us from any harm that we might encounter or that might try to come against us. Hedges are also often used as a boundary line to prevent someone or something from crossing to an area where they shouldn’t. Similarly, we can ask God to prevent our enemies from crossing a boundary line meant to protect us.

We can pray a hedge of protection when we want to ask God to build up a wall of protection or defense against any kind of harm.

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Some examples of a hedge of protection in scripture

Satan recognized a hedge of protection that God had put around Job.

“Have You not put a hedge [of protection] around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands [and conferred prosperity and happiness upon him], and his possessions have increased in the land.” Job 1:10 (AMP)

A hedge of thorns (a form of a hedge of protection as discussed above) is mentioned in Hosea for the prevention of going down wrong paths.

“Therefore I will hedge up her way with thorns, and I will build a wall against her, so that she cannot find her paths. She shall pursue her lovers but not overtake them, and she shall seek them but shall not find them. Then she shall say, ‘I will go and return to my first husband, for it was better for me then than now.’” Hosea 2:6-7 (ESV)

God describes a hedge as special protection for a vineyard (vineyard=an analogy for Israel here), and the owner of the vineyard (i.e. God) needs only to remove the hedge in order for the vineyard to be left exposed and destroyed.

“Now let me tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will tear down its hedges and let it be destroyed. I will break down its walls and let the animals trample it.” Isaiah 5:5 (NLT)

Scriptures about being surrounded by protection

There are many scriptures throughout the Bible that present the idea that the Lord surrounds people and places with his protection. Often verbiage is used such as surrounding, going before and following, encamping, enclosing, sheltering, concealing, covering, spreading over, and so on. These could be examples of “hedges” or of God “hedging” his people.

Here is a sampling of some of these scriptures (by no means is this exhaustive…that would be an extremely long list!):

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Prayer for Those Who Are Being Deceived

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Prayer for Those Who Are Being Deceived

Unfortunately, we live in a day and age where Satan is amping up his activity in order to deceive people. He knows his time of an end is drawing near. The Bible is VERY clear about the rise and increase of false prophets and deception as we near the coming of Christ and the end times. We need to expect that there WILL BE those attempting to deceive us (and some even doing so in the name of and purportedly for the cause of Christ).

Some deception also comes, not just from other people, but from Satan or evil spirits attacking our minds and thought life with lies. Many people also start to believe things contrary to scripture, Biblical teaching, and godly living simply because of their own desires. They simply don’t want to believe the truth.

“Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons.” 1 Timothy 4:1 (NLT)

“For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths.” 2 Timothy 4:3-4 (NLT)

As the time of Christ’s return nears, deception will increase. It will come from others, from evil spiritual forces, and from within ourselves and our own desires.

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When those we care about are being deceived

It’s very hard to see someone you love or care about being deceived and believing lies. It’s especially difficult when they seem so far gone and are not receptive to hearing or discussing the truth. All is not hopeless or lost though!  We can pray for them because our prayers are extremely powerful!

“…The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” James 5:16b (NLT) 

After studying and researching how and what to pray for those who are being deceived or believing lies, I compiled a list of things to pray followed by scriptures that these prayers are based upon. You can pray these items in part, or I’ve also combined them as a collective prayer at the bottom of this post (with an image to save, pin, or print).

Pray for those who are deceived because your prayers are powerful, effective, and will produce results!

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Take Some Practical Steps to Pray for Those Who Are Being Deceived:

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Pray Without Ceasing

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Pray Without Ceasing: What does that even mean?

“Pray without ceasing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:17 (KJV)

1 Thessalonians 5:17 tells us to pray without ceasing. Some translations of this verse say pray continually or pray without stopping. So what does this even mean? Does mean that I need to sit around for hours at a time praying? I don’t think so. I think this is more about turning our thoughts to God on a regular basis and just talking to him as we do this. To me what it all boils down to is this, to pray without ceasing just means to pray and talk to God throughout your day as an ongoing conversation. Prayer is not a religious ritual. Prayer is a conversation with our father and our friend, and it comes from a place of relationship not rigid or rote protocol.

Prayer is not a religious ritual.

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An “Aha” moment

In my previous blog post about When and Where to Pray, I wrote about how when I was in college I had a sudden realization after reading this verse that there is really no “certain” or “right” time to pray. Growing up, typically prayer times were before meals and at bedtime. I remember reading “Pray without ceasing” and having the thought that God wants to talk to me all day. I just need to pray all the time and not just before meals or bed.

From that point on, I started having a daily, ongoing conversation with God.  I still had regular and more formal times to pray, but more often than not I would just talk to God throughout the day.  This idea of an ongoing conversation gave me the freedom to have a friendship and real relationship with God.  I didn’t even say “amen”. It was just an unending conversation all day long.

Sometimes I imagine this like talking to an invisible friend walking beside me (because he kind of is!). It doesn’t even have to be out loud, but it can be. Sometimes I find myself praying out loud without realizing it. You can imagine some of the strange looks I might get. I remember one time I was walking in the kitchen feeling really frustrated, drained, and overwhelmed. Slightly under my breath (or so I thought), and in a bit of a growl, I pleaded to God saying, “Sustain me”. My husband, Eric apparently overhead. He laughed as he jokingly asked me if I was demon-possessed because all he heard was a growling sound and what he thought was a “SAVE ME”. We got a good laugh about that!

To pray without ceasing just means to ongoing conversation with God.

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Some examples of what “pray without ceasing” might look like on an average day for me

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Prayers for…

Prayers for Resource Page

Prayers for… Resource Page

Below are links to posts that contain prayers for a variety of topics that you can use and a helpful or encouraging reference or resource!

Unsaved Loved Ones

To Understand and Experience God’s Love

Leading Someone to Christ

Time of Crisis

For Strength

Smooth Out the Path Ahead

An Addict

Survivors of Sexual Abuse

Caregivers

For the year

Your Finances

Confused

Understanding the Bible

God’s Help to Make Bible Reading a Regular Habit

Surrendering to God

Lost Hope

When You’re Verbally Attacked

Those Who Make Bad Choices

Using the Lord’s Prayer

Your Enemies

A Hedge of Thorns

A Hedge of Protection

Psalm 91–Prayer of Protection

To Be More Kind and Gentle

Spiritual Laundry

Your Gifts and Purpose

Prayer for Ukraine

Prayers for Israel

Prayer for Time of Crisis

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Prayer for Time of Crisis

This week I wanted to share a Prayer for Time of Crisis (with some foundation scriptures). This prayer is timely during the COVID-19 crisis that our world is currently facing.

A few helpful things to remember during a time of crisis:

  • Our first response during times of crisis should be to go to the Bible to see what God’s word has to say about it.
  • Crisis happens all the time. Whenever a crisis comes up, God has something for us to grab right in the middle of it.
  • If you give the devil enough rope, he’ll hang himself. Satan often overplays his hand, and the very attacks he makes are often the very things that seal his fate. He brings about his own undoing, and God will turn the tables on him bringing his people out even better on the other side of crisis.
  • The people of God come out in victory on the other side because of faith. If we keep our faith, we will get the victory. We have to fight to keep our faith. The devil will try to steal it from us because he knows that’s how we will get our victory.

“For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith.” 1 John 5:4 (NLT)

“Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” 1 Timothy 6:12 (NIV)

  • Just because we experience crisis doesn’t mean that we aren’t living right or following God. Jesus even told us trouble would come to us.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 (NIV)

Take Some Practical Steps to Pray During This Time of Crisis:

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Funny Friday: Whoever prayed for rain

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Whoever prayed for rain

Funny Friday: Whoever prayed for rain

My sister sent some “Oklahoma funny” to me the other day. For those unaware, we’ve had some incessant rains and some severe flooding recently. Some local comedian decided to post this funny sign, “Whoever prayed for rain please pray for my bank account”. 🙂

“Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops.” James 5:18 (NLT)

Prayer for an Addict

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Prayer for an addict

Prayer for an Addict

Addiction is a sensitive subject for a lot of people. It’s unfortunately one that comes laced with shame, brokenness, and often a loss of hope. There’s collateral damage surrounding an addict, often to those closest to them.

Sadly, I’ve witnessed the devastating effects of addiction firsthand and have personally experienced some of the collateral damage. Not only do I teach at a women’s restoration home, where many of the residents are recovering addicts, but I also have a brother who is an addict. I’ve seen their lives ripped apart to the point of losing everything because of their addiction. It’s extremely hard to watch, and I often feel hopeless and helpless.

One hard and fast lesson that I’ve learned is that you can’t help people that don’t want to help themselves. Until they are ready, there’s not much one can do…EXCEPT for one extremely powerful thing: Pray. I’ve been reminded of this recently when seeking counsel about my brother. Prayer should never be underestimated because it is immensely powerful and has the capacity to produce wonderful results.

“…The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” James 5:16b (NLT)

Therefore I should never feel hopeless or helpless because I have a powerful God that is far bigger than any addiction. I CAN help by appealing to my God and interceding on behalf of my brother or others captive to addiction. Today, I’ve written a Prayer for an Addict based off of scripture that I plan to pray over my brother and others struggling with addiction. My hope and prayer is that this will be a resource for others to use as well.

You can’t help people that don’t want to help themselves…BUT prayer is extremely powerful!

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Prayer for an Addict

Lord, Give _____ the desire and the ability (through Jesus) to do the right thing and to actually want to help himself/herself and to get better. Soften _____’s heart and help him/her to be tender and responsive to you and to the help, guidance, and counsel of others. Show _____ the way out when he/she is tempted. Help ____ to choose life. Surround _____ with godly friends and influences that will sharpen him/her. Hinder any ungodly influences and cause them to lose interest and depart. Protect _____ from any unsafe thing or person that would pursue him/her or that he/she would pursue. Send laborers across _____’s path to speak and show your truth and love to him/her. When _____ thinks about his/her failures and if he/she falls or relapses, help _____ know that he/she is loved and nothing he/she could ever do will ever separate him/her from that love. Finally, let _____ know that he/she still has a future and a purpose regardless of any past mistakes because you, Lord, can take ANYTHING and turn it around for good! I ask these things in Jesus’ name.

Prayer for an Addict

Scriptures this prayer was based upon:

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