Surrounded in prayer

Our Daily Bread
"Give up, you are surrounded by police!" can be heard in some old movies.  The police tracked down the desperate criminal and trapped him in a abandoned warehouse in a seedy part of town.  "There is no way for you to escape!".  ha!

The devotional is about surrounding folks in prayer.  The apostle Paul asked for it in his writings.  We have always been taught that "prayer changes things".  I liked the visual of being physically surrounded in prayer.  I have done this at some church services and some small group meetings.  We would surround a person, place our hands on his or her shoulders, then take turns praying for the person.  Surrounded!  There is no way for you to escape!  I mean no way for the problem or situation to escape the control of God.  He controls all, including everything that happens to us.  He does not let us take on more than we can bear.  What an amazing God!

Do you want to be surrounded in prayer?  Have you asked your friends or ministers to do so?  Do you pray for others?  Listen to the Holy Spirit today for leadership in your prayers.

Lord, please teach how to pray and what to pray for.

Psalm Sunday
The psalm for this week is Psalm 54.  Remember to read it out loud!  This is a short, powerful psalm about a prayer to God for deliverance from his enemies.  Haven't we all felt this way at times!  It sounds pretty intense to me, but that is one of the things I like about the psalms.  The express the depths and breadth of human emotion!


Psalm 54

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A maskil of David. When the Ziphites had gone to Saul and said, “Is not David hiding among us?”

1 Save me , O God, by your name;
    vindicate me by your might.
2 Hear my prayer, O God;
    listen to the words of my mouth.
3 Arrogant foes are attacking me;
    ruthless people are trying to kill me —
    people without regard for God.
4 Surely God is my help;
    the Lord is the one who sustains me.
5 Let evil recoil on those who slander me;
    in your faithfulness destroy them.
6 I will sacrifice a freewill offering to you;
    I will praise your name, Lord, for it is good.
7 You have delivered me from all my troubles,
    and my eyes have looked in triumph on my foes.


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Let go, my friends!  God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!