God, Our Defender - Friday Praise & Pray (for others) October 8, 2021

Every day, satan attacks you. It attacks your thoughts and your environment. It goes as far as attacking your body with pain, illness, and more. The Bible tells us in John 10:10 - The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. Notice the word 'kill'? Left to the devil, it would go beyond the attacks already mentioned. You'd have been dead a long time ago.

It is because of this reality that I can't help but think of God as The Defender. We walk around this planet, clueless of the spiritual battles that are going on. Battles to determine each second of our day and whether those seconds will serve God or satan. God, in His unlimited understanding, limits what the devil can do. He steps in to defend us and keeps the enemy from going too far.

God is fighting our battles even when we can't fathom how. Imagine someone in a vehicular accident, badly hurt and worrying how they're going to pay the hospital bill plus the bills they had before the car crash. I've come to a point in my life where I understand I need to thank God on that person's behalf. Whatever problems they face, things could have been much worse. That was the devil's plan, after all. However, God in His mercy, prevented the worst from happening. He stood as The Defender.

We might ask, why didn't God just stop the accident from happening? I firmly believe He typically does. Nevertheless, as a good parent who needs to train His children, He lets us get into occasional brushes with trouble. It's a means for Him to see whether we'll come to Him for help. It could also be a way to refocus us and get out of habits and behaviors that could have led to much worse. A wakeup call, of sorts. Will we be overcome by our struggles or subdue them via dogged faith?

Whatever the reason, we have a God who is The Defender of our lives and of our souls. He doesn't want any of us to end up in hell once we move on from earth. Instead, He wants us to reside in Heaven with Him for eternity. It is His job to defend us all through the journey there. It is His job to stop the enemy's arrows from hitting us. We just have to sit still and let Him fight for us as He promised in Exodus 14:14. That was the case for King Jehoshaphat who arrived at a battle God had finished already to his nation's benefit. Remember Psalm 91:7 tells us A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. This is the sort of defense God has available for us.

Sure, there are times He'll tell us to throw a punch or two. When that happens, be rest assured the bones in your hand won't hurt. Your Defender wants you to get in on the action and get some hits - all with His full protection. This is how things went down for Judge Gideon. God's strategy led to chaos in the enemy's camp and a swift victory for His people. Same with Joshua. God dropped hail on the enemy's of His children, honored Joshua's prayer to hold the sun in the sky, and let His people fight for over 24 hours and wipe out 5 armies!

We need to fall back and let God take the lead in our lives. We need to let Him play the role of The Defender. We need to step out of His way and let Him do what He does best - handle things in our favor. We're so used to making decisions and making moves that this can be very hard. May the Lord help us and give us grace to be more submissive to His plans and His will for our lives. May we learn to surrender all to Him and allow Jehovah Nissi - The Defender - to defend us fully. IJMN, Amen.

I pray you'll fellowship with us during today's Praise & Pray (for others). We shall praise our God for defending us, intercede for those who are in need of prayers, then submit in prayer to God, inviting Him to defend us from the schemes and wiles of the devil against us. Come ready to share your praise. Be prepared to lift people and their tough situations up in prayer. May your heart yearn for the Lord and find Him (2 Chronicles 15:4).