Praying for Your Children

“You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,
Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness” (Psalm 91:5-6 NKJV).

Want to get your heart pumping? Get a call from your child saying they have had a bear on their windshield! Your mind becomes very alert.

Our youngest son had driven to Colorado and gave us a call when he arrived at a campground. As he was setting up the tent and chatting with us, he mentioned an “arrow” on a nearby rock. A bow and “arrow” kind of arrow. Seemed odd, so I stored the information away until God revealed why.

God started bringing to mind Psalm 91 and prompted me to pray it for our son, on a regular basis. To my surprise, verse 5 referred to an “arrow”.

What I was to later learn was the message in the words right before and after it.

“You shall not be afraid of the terror by night” (Psalm 91:5).
“Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness” (Psalm 91:6).

I prayed Psalm 91, inserting our son’s name- that he would dwell in the secret place of the Most High and abide under the shadow of the Almighty. That he would not be afraid of the terror by night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that walks in darkness, and so forth.

Some days later, we received the call that made my husband and me gasp. In a matter-of-fact tone, our son told us that on the previous night, at the campground, he had chosen to read in his car instead of the tent. Looking up, through the darkness, he thought a man was standing near the hood of his car. At second glance, it was a bear! The bear climbed onto the hood of his car with its paws on the windshield. “What!!” (That was my response, not our son’s.)

The “terror by night and the pestilence that walks in darkness”, from Psalm 91:5-6 was a bear!

When I asked what he did next, he calmly responded that he had slowly backed the car up and driven away. Slowly! Really, I think I would have floored it, blown the horn, screamed- so many choices. Fortunately, he was thinking more clearly that I would have.

Well, God had revealed why He wanted me to pray Psalm 91- for such a time as this.

I am so grateful God protected him, not only on that day but so many other days I don’t even know about.

God knows the end from the beginning. He knows the future.

Isaiah 46:9-10 says, “…I am God, and there is none like Me,
Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things that are not yet done,” (NKJV).

Has God ever given you that sense of urgency to pray for one of your children or grandchildren? You didn’t know why, but you knew you’d better pray. Right now.

Sometimes we don’t know what to pray or what their situation is like. Praying God’s blessings, protection, and promises for our children is always appropriate. Praising God for His power, as we trust in Him to protect our children, honors God and builds us up, as well.

You may want to take a moment, settle in with your Bible, and ask God to lead you to scripture to pray for your children, before they have their next … “God Adventure” in life!

Psalm 91

¹ He who dwells 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 I will trust.”
³ Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the ^[a]fowler
And from the perilous pestilence.
⁴ He shall cover you with His feathers,
And under His wings you shall take refuge;
His truth shall be your shield and ^[b]buckler.
⁵ You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,
Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
⁶ Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,
Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.
⁷ A thousand may fall at your side,
And ten thousand at your right hand;
But it shall not come near you.
⁸ Only with your eyes shall you look,
And see the reward of the wicked.
⁹ Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place,
¹⁰ No evil shall befall you,
Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
¹¹ For He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you in all your ways.
¹² In their hands they shall ^[c]bear you up,
Lest you ^[d]dash your foot against a stone.
¹³ You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,
The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.
¹⁴ “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will ^[e]set him on high, because he has 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 honor him.
¹⁶ With ^[f]long life I will satisfy him,
And show him My salvation” (NKJV).

It’s all about Jesus! To God be the glory!
Blessings and love, Gayle

© 2018 Gayle Holcomb