“Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.”Deuteronomy 31:6 KJV
Last night I received some wonderful, unexpected direct mail via Twitter, encouraging me that my friend Paul had been & is, praying for me & my family. One of them had recently been ill. I am always blessed when I know the ‘wall of prayer’ envelopes & surrounds me & my family like a cloak. It is for me, the best armoury I could ask for. Just like when Joshua went in to battle and the children of Israel were instructed to march around the wall 7 times but on the 7th time they shouted with an almighty shout & blew their trumpets & the walls of Jericho came tumbling down like dominoes! What an army, they were all on one accord in obedience to the instruction of God.
So I went to bed blessed, encouraged, listening to the wonderful teaching about obedience from the Book of Samuel on UCBIreland “obey is better than sacrifice..” I was prayed up & comforted but before long I was under siege. I was awoke by a nudge in the Holy Spirit, “get up and call your son” I heard the voice clearly say this & I immediately got up, went to the toilet (not fully obedient right!??) but I called my son from the bathroom & was told he was in hospital after becoming ill suddenly. He had told me earlier in the day he thought he was ‘getting a cold’ & I gave him home remedies to try. I did not think anything of it but sent him on his way with my love & blessings
Wham!!! the enemy side stepped me and tried to punch me in the ribs because my son is away at University & being told he had become so ill he was taken to hospital, was concerning to say the least- what is it about ‘that’ middle of the night call??!! It’s because the enemy wants you off guard & everything feels more difficult & longer when things happen in the night! This could have been a different phone call altogether BUT the battle cry had already sounded! The wall of prayer trumpeted around my son & up to Glory. It had already covered my child under the protective arm of God, with prayer from his parents, his family, his brethren, our friends (remember Paul’s message to me earlier…) God was letting me know “..there are more on our side than on the enemy’s”. As my son was put on the phone by His friend, I prayed over him & them too, giving God thanks for His mercy and for my son’s healing ahead of time & I encouraged my son to give God thanks too. I thank God for the help He placed around my son as one of his friends saw he was becoming ill and they took him to the hospital. Wisdom. God gives His Angels charge over us – fact! He promised “never will He leave or forsake us” & we must be encouraged by this & not forget His promises to us. We may leave or forsake Him but it’s never the other way around, so do not ever believe the lies of that old rogue Satan, the adversary, the lion, roaring his ugly head because the battle is already won, hallelujah! I told my son “mummy & daddy are coming to get you but God is already with you” & to keep reminding himself of this.
And so the journey continues, another battle another storm but the ending is the same, God will fight for us if we trust Him. He puts angels around us & He gives us His Holy Spirit as our Guard & prayer is our shield. When Jesus said “pray without ceasing” & “men (& women) always ought to pray”, there is a reason. It is because our enemy is relentless, so be on your guard & stay prayed up in the Holy Spirit because instead of despair, we have hope. The task of rearranging things for home & work, doing the journey & navigating motorways to get to my son, didn’t fill me with joy but knowing I’ll be able to hug him did! Reinforcements come from The Angel of the Host when you sound the alarm, weep for help & blow trumpet of the battle cry of prayer! Never believe that your prayer goes unnoticed or it goes nowhere, God is working behind the scenes, He knows what direction the attack is coming from. We don’t. He has already released the Warrior Angels to do battle for us. He has already acted on those prayer requests that went up to Him “as a sweet smelling savour”, the many cries of intercession on our behalf.
Do not think it strange when the attack arrives, these are the fiery trials that Jesus spoke to us about. Do not be anxious unnecessarily. These are the trials which come against us but let me tell you, we are “overcomers” because Jesus overcame the world for us! God is good ALL the time! Thank you in advance for your continued prayers,especially for my son & family ??
“Have your prayers been met with a silent sky? Have you prayed and heard nothing? If so, don’t give up! Are you floundering in the land between an offered and an answered prayer?
What the angel said to Daniel, God says to you: “Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard” (Daniel 10:12 NIV). You have been heard in heaven. Reinforcements have been rallied. God promises in Isaiah 49:25, “I will contend with him who contends with you.” Do what Daniel did, and remain before the Lord.
The Scripture promises, “Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not be weary,
They will walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31).
“He God has put his angels in charge of you to watch over you wherever you go” (Psalm 91:11 NCV).
Excerpts By Max Lucado “Anxious For Nothing”
May God richly bless you & your family as we pray one for another in Jesus name. God is in control, He has the final word!
Samantha?