Should we pray for protection? (On over-correcting)

Life often feels like a long series of over-correcting.

Like dangerous drivers, we tend to veer from one ditch to the other, struggling to find the middle ground where we can actually gain speed and get somewhere.

Anybody else?

I see this in myself. For many years I pretty much lived in the ditch of “it’s all about embracing suffering.” I ignored healing, reward, blessing, and only focused on the parts of the scriptures (of which there are plenty!) that focused on carrying our cross, embracing persecution, and growth through suffering. That’s well and good, but you better believe if I was in a prayer meeting, and someone started praying for healing, I’d be the first to “over-correct” that by adding something like, “And Lord we just pray you’d also help this person embrace suffering, and be joyful in the midst of this, and help them have patience…”

You get the idea. 

We can so funny in prayer meetings, so quick to helpfully correct each other’s prayer. *wink*

But then of course I’ve learned about healing. Say what?! Oh, Jesus healed people! Tada! This is incredible. And so this whole new world opens up to me, and I’m amazed by it, swerving hard out of that ditch. But now is the challenge of seeking to stay firm on solid ground, balanced, without falling into ditches on either side.

Thankfully, the Scriptures, read in their entirety without just picking and choosing our favorite verses, provide us with the perfect steadiness, keeping us from veering too far off either side. But one of the areas where I’ve struggled to find that middle biblical ground is in the area of protection.

Should we pray for protection?

The same way that I used to think praying for healing was “shallow” (although I would never have admitted that), I thought praying for protection seemed pretty self-centered. Paul wasn’t concerned about being shipwrecked, right? He was concerned that more and more people would know the gospel! He wasn’t consumed with his own comfort and security, he was consumed with a passion to make known the glory of God, whatever it took.

But while this is true, we always need to be on guard against that ditch. 

But last week, I kept sensing an urge to pray for protection. I read up a bit, and could see that yes, so clearly, we were called to petition for ourselves and intercede for others to be protected. Psalm 91 is a clear declaration of God’s protection, so I just prayed as best as I knew how, to be protected, and that, above all, our hearts would completely trust God.

That weekend, I traveled 4.5 hours south to a retreat. All went well, and on the way home Saturday evening, I continued to thank God for His peace and confidence, and for protection.

As I traveled up I-5 going 70 mph, through a narrow part of the freeway with a concrete median on one side and cars on the other, a wheel/tire flew off an SUV in front of me, bounced up in the air, and came straight at my windshield. I didn’t even have time to think, but couldn’t swerve, so just slammed on my brakes and ducked my head. Amazingly, the tire came down instead of at my windshield, and slammed into my bumper, really the only place it could hit without causing me to crash. Part of my bumper fell off and flew down the road, the other part hung off a bit and my hood was rattled loose, but after pulling aside (shaking like a leaf!), I saw the car was completely drivable, so I continued home (praying the whole way that God would hold my hood shut!).

I praised God the whole way for prompting my heart to pray for protection, then providing the protection I so needed.

Friends, we can spend so much time trying to dissect prayer, figuring out the “right ways” to pray, which really just squanders the time we could be spending actually praying! Years ago I heard a sermon where a pastor mercilessly made fun of the (admittedly) quirky ways that people pray, and while I’m sure his intent was pure, it had such a negative effect on me.

It made me paranoid that somehow I was “doing it wrong.”

I’m finding freedom in just praying according to the scriptures, as best as I can, without swerving too far to either side, bouncing in and out of ditches, or stalling in stillness because I’m too paralyzed by wanting to “do it right.”

May you find freedom today as you pray, may you steer clear of those ditches, and gain significant ground as you interact with your Heavenly Father about all that concerns you today. He loves you so!

{Happy weekend. Thanks for reading.}