Category Archives: Prayer

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March 19, 2026

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Attitudes & Behavior, Church & Worship, Faith & Hope, Holidays & Holy Days, Prayer, Trusting God

THE LORICA

But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you. [Psalm 5:11 (NIV)]

armorA Latin word, lorica originally meant armor or breastplate. Because of an ancient practice of inscribing a prayer on the armor or shields of knights who then recited the prayer before combat, lorica came to mean a prayer of protection.

Although there are many such prayers, the most famous is the Lorica of St. Patrick (also known as St. Patrick’s Breastplate). Legend has it that around 433 AD, St. Patrick wrote this prayer for protection. As the story goes, on Easter morning, Patrick led his fellow missionaries in a procession to the court of the pagan King Laoghhaire. Suspecting that they would be ambushed by the army of his pagan adversary, Patrick took his men through the woods while chanting this prayer/lorica. Rather than seeing the missionaries amid the trees, their enemies saw a mother deer followed by twenty fawns and let them pass. Having been brought safely through the ambush by God, Patrick and his companions marched into the king’s presence while chanting: “Let them that will, trust in chariots and horses, but we walk in the name of the Lord.”

Whether the story is fact, legend or, as I suspect, somewhere in-between, this beautiful hymn (also known as The Deer’s Cry) appears to be the first one ever written in Gaelic and quite likely by the beloved Patrick. In 1889, Cecil Alexander produced a metrical version of the prayer from an earlier English translation and the resulting hymn was set to traditional Irish tunes. Called “I Bind Unto Myself Today,” this beautiful old lorica can be found in the hymnals of many denominations and heard on You Tube.

Prayers for protection and deliverance are found throughout Scripture. Moses, David, Ezra, and Nehemiah all prayed for protection for themselves and others and Jesus prayed for the protection of His followers. We may not be facing Druids in the woods, but we enter into battle against evil every day. While we don’t wear armor or carry shields, we can proceed as did Patrick and his men: by wearing the armor of God, binding ourselves to Him in prayer, and walking in the name of the Lord.

I bind unto myself today
The strong name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same
The Three in One and One in Three. …
I bind unto myself today
The power of God to hold and lead,
His eye to watch, His might to stay,
His ear to hearken to my need.
The wisdom of my God to teach,
His hand to guide, His shield to ward,
The word of God to give me speech,
His heavenly host to be my guard. …
Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.
I bind unto myself the name,
The strong name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.
By whom all nature hath creation,
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
Praise to the Lord of my salvation,
Salvation is of Christ the Lord.
[St. Patrick’s Breastplate (Attributed to St. Patrick)] 

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. [Ephesians 6:13-15 (NIV)]

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March 5, 2026

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Attitudes & Behavior, Challenges & Difficulty, Church & Worship, Holidays & Holy Days, Knowing Him, Prayer

SEEKING HIM DURING LENT

Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. [Daniel 9:3 (CSB)]

Even now—this is the Lord’s declaration—turn to me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Tear your hearts, not just your clothes, and return to the Lord your God. For he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in faithful love, and he relents from sending disaster. [Joel 2:12-13 (CSB)]

MOCKINGBIRDWe’re two weeks into the season of Lent. While we typically associate this time before Easter with giving up something, it is more than simply abstaining or fasting from some thing or things. Fasting without prayer is nothing more than a diet and abstaining from some pleasure without prayer is more like dry January than a Lenten discipline! Without prayer, fasting and abstinence are physical acts but not spiritual ones! When we give up something for Lent, we need to deliberately and intentionally seek the Lord in prayer at the same time!

Faith is a living thing, and like all living things, it needs to be nurtured and fed to grow. During Lent, as we abstain from worldly things, we feast on the spiritual so that this season of self-denial becomes one of growth. Lent is the time to feed our faith with extra servings of prayer and Scripture along with Christian fellowship, praise, thanksgiving, and worship.

If we choose to observe Lent, there are a few words of warning. We must be cautious of spiritual pride—thinking we’re better or “more spiritual” than others who may not observe this season or might practice it in a different way. How we keep this season is between us and God and not to be compared to anyone else’s Lenten practice. We shouldn’t be like the proud Pharisee in Jesus’ parable who compared himself to the tax collector while boasting that he fasted twice a week and gave away a tenth of all he received. Spiritual pride means we’re looking at ourselves instead of the Lord. Jesus reminded His listeners that “everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” [Luke 18:14]

Just as self-denial is not a way to boost our egos, let us never make the mistake of thinking that giving up something for Lent has any merit as far as our salvation is concerned. Self-denial and fasting are not done to curry favor and earn ”brownie points” with God. Neither fasting nor abstinence give us special standing before God and they won’t make God love us any more than He already does!

Moreover, we must never give up something as a way of manipulating God into doing something for us; there no quid pro quo in God’s Kingdom! Fasting and abstinence won’t sprinkle spiritual vitamins and minerals on our prayers to give them extra power. We don’t adopt a spiritual discipline so God will do what we want—we do it so we’ll do what He wants! Fasting and abstaining change us, not God! They’re like cleaning our glasses so we better see God and cleaning the wax from our ears so that we hear Him more clearly. Rather than getting a better response to our prayers, self-denial leads to better prayers!

Finally, Jesus specifically warned us about the danger of hypocrisy while fasting. Lent’s purpose is not to impress others with our devotion. It’s personal and private—between us and God—it’s a secret commitment rather than a public display. May we always remember that we fast to please the Lord—not to impress others!

Prayer is reaching out after the unseen; fasting is letting go of all that is seen and temporal. Fasting helps express, deepen, confirm the resolution that we are ready to sacrifice anything, even ourselves to attain what we seek for the kingdom of God. [Andrew Murray]

Whenever you fast, don’t be gloomy like the hypocrites. For they disfigure their faces so that their fasting is obvious to people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting isn’t obvious to others but to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. [Matthew 6:16-17(CSB)]

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February 26, 2026

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Attitudes & Behavior, Bible Stories, Faith & Hope, Knowing Him, Prayer

APPROACHING OUR KING

I will exalt you, my God and King, and praise your name forever and ever. I will praise you every day; yes, I will praise you forever. … The Lord is righteous in everything he does; he is filled with kindness. The Lord is close to all who call on him, yes, to all who call on him in truth. He grants the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cries for help and rescues them.[Psalm 145:1-2,17-19 (NLT)]

lion

After Esther fasted and prayed about approaching the king, she had both courage and a strategy. From the way Xerxes was so easily manipulated by his Persian noble friends and Haman, it’s clear that he was a temperamental, weak, and foolish man; Esther used that knowledge to her advantage. When she dressed in her finest robes and approached the king, I imagine she made sure he was in good spirits and that she looked irresistible. Welcoming Esther and offering her half his kingdom, Xerxes invited his queen to ask for anything, but she knew better than to take the royal offer literally. Graciously, she only asked for his and Haman’s presence at a banquet that evening. Esther’s delay didn’t mean she’d lost her courage. Persian etiquette for making a request typically began with a small unrelated favor, which is what Esther did. After a pleasant evening, she beguiled Xerxes simply by inviting him to dinner again. Gaining one small concession at a time, she eventually worked her way up to the real issue at hand. By waiting to make her appeal, Esther aroused the king’s curiosity.

A banquet was the perfect setting for Esther’s request. According to the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, Persians typically decided important matters when they were drunk; once they’d sobered up, their decisions would be confirmed. That certainly was the case when the drunken Xerxes banished Queen Vashti. On the other hand, any decisions made while sober were suspect and were to be reevaluated when the parties were intoxicated (which may explain why Xerxes and Haman sat down to drink after their apparently sober decision to eliminate the Jews)! Esther understood the importance of alcohol in the king’s decision making and, after two nights of banquets, she finally made her request while they were drinking wine. When Esther asked the king to save her life and the lives of her people, she prudently put the blame for the wicked plot entirely on Haman rather than her easily manipulated husband.

By necessity, Esther made her plea to the king in a calculated and roundabout way. Fortunately, we don’t have to strategize or scheme when we approach our Heavenly King! Because we are His beloved children and know that He loves us, we don’t have to worry that God’s interest in us has waned. There’s no need to dress in our finest attire to entice Him nor must we wait until He extends his golden scepter before approaching His throne. God is far more interested in our hearts than our appearance and our imperfect selves can approach Him any time. We don’t have to pique God’s curiosity or manipulate Him into asking us what we want because God knows what we need even before we do! We don’t have to carefully phrase our words out of fear that He will banish us from His presence if we displease Him. We certainly don’t have to ply God with vintage wine, start with little favors before working up to our big request, or wait until He’s in a good mood before offering our prayers. God is the same today as He was yesterday and will be tomorrow. If we have no words, the Holy Spirit will speak for us.

Let us never approach God with subterfuge and apprehension as Esther did Xerxes. We should come to Him as candidly as did David and the other psalmists. With our Heavenly King, we can honestly sob in sorrow, shout in anger, plead in distress, stammer in confusion, whisper in fear, weep in regret, confess in repentance, shout in praise, sing in thanksgiving, and even dance in joy—all without fear of banishment from His presence!

O Lord, hear me as I pray; pay attention to my groaning. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for I pray to no one but you. Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly. [Psalm 5:1-3 (NLT)]

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February 23, 2026

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Attitudes & Behavior, Bible Stories, Faith & Hope, Prayer, Trusting God

FINDING COURAGE

So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and fasting. I also wore rough burlap and sprinkled myself with ashes. [Daniel 9:3 (NLT)]

So we fasted and earnestly prayed that our God would take care of us, and he heard our prayer. [Ezra 8:23 (NLT)]

When writing about Esther last week, I thought how terrified she must have been when Mordecai asked her to step out of her comfort zone to save the Jews. Even though she was queen, her access to Xerxes was severely limited. Living secluded in a private chamber in the women’s quarters, she didn’t regularly dine with the king. Powerless, she was the one to be summoned rather than the one who did the summoning and she hadn’t been summoned by Xerxes for a month. She was just one of many beautiful women in the king’s harem and perhaps someone else had caught his eye. The previous queen was banished when she defied the king; Esther could expect nothing less if her presence wasn’t welcomed. The young queen had a simple choice: comfort or courage. She chose courage and saved a nation!

Where did Esther get the courage to defy the law and approach the king? She got it from God! That may seem a strange answer since God isn’t mentioned anywhere in her story. Nevertheless, after asking Mordecai to gather together all the Jews in Susa and fast for three days, Esther promised that she and her maids would do the same. The beautiful queen wasn’t fasting so that she’d fit into her sexiest gown! She was fasting in prayer.

For a Jew, fasting and prayer went hand in hand and, while prayer is not specifically mentioned, it certainly is implied. Fasting combined with prayer was a customary practice in times of grief, distress, or repentance. It was a way to seek God’s favor and demonstrate the sincerity of one’s prayers. Although fasting was only demanded on the Day of Atonement, Scripture tells us that the Israelites and people like Ezra, David, Nehemiah, Jehoshaphat, and Daniel all combined fasting with prayer. When Esther and the people of Susa fasted, I have no doubt their fast was accompanied by their heartfelt prayers. Only then did Esther have both a plan to save her people and courage enough to step out of her comfort zone to do it.

Unlike Esther, we may not be asked to save a nation. Nevertheless, God has a mission for each of us. Because He is far more interested in our growth and obedience than our comfort, God’s mission for us, like Esther’s, usually begins at the end of our comfort zone. How do we move from comfort to courage and from fear to faith?

Like Esther, we could choose to fast. The purpose of fasting is never to change God; its purpose is to change us. A fast helps us take our eyes off the world and focus them on God. While Esther probably fasted from food, a fast also can be from things like gaming, social media, alcohol, television, or anything else that takes our mind off God.

Although Scripture tells us that Jesus and the early church fasted, it does not demand that Christians fast. The spiritual practice of fasting is a personal choice for a Christian; prayer, however, is not. Prayer is an act of obedience to God and the way we demonstrate our faith. When faced with the choice of comfort or courage, whether or not we choose to fast, we must choose to pray. Prayer is what will enable us to step out of our comfort zone and courageously do God’s work.

Courage is faith that has said its prayers. [AA slogan]

I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears. Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces. In my desperation I prayed, and the Lord listened; he saved me from all my troubles. [Psalm 34:4-6 (NLT)]

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January 12, 2026

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Attitudes & Behavior, Bible Stories, God's Word: The Bible, Nature, Prayer, Temptation & Sin, Wisdom & Guidance

STAY ALERT!

When the devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left him until the next opportunity came. [Luke 4:13 (NLT)]

bearWhile I expected bear sightings when we lived in the mountains of Colorado, I never expected a bear to find its way into our Florida community and scavenge in a neighbor’s trash bin on her driveway! While bears generally prefer natural foods like berries and nuts, as civilization encroaches on their habitat, those foods are becoming less abundant. Driven by their need to eat, bears will go where they can find any food. With a sense of smell that is seven times greater than a bloodhound’s, it’s estimated they can smell a food source from as far away as 20 miles. Opportunistic creatures, they take advantage of whatever is easily available, whether bird seed, pet food, barbecue grills, or garbage.

Tenacious and intelligent animals, bears will spend hours solving a problem if food is involved but, since they lack opposable thumbs, bears couldn’t open the lock on our community’s “bear-proof” dumpster in Colorado. At the time, however, the doors on Subarus didn’t require thumbs to open and the hungry bears in our Colorado town eventually learned how to open the doors of unlocked Subarus. After that, no unlocked Subaru in town was safe from a bear! Once a bear gets inside a car, the door often closes and traps it. By the time the imprisoned angry animal manages to make an exit, the car’s interior is wrecked and the bear has done what it usually does in the woods! Nevertheless, just as people often forgot to latch our dumpster, some people still left their cars unlocked!

Satan is as opportunistic and tenacious as any black bear and, if we let him, he can leave our lives even more messed up than a bear does a Subaru. Rather than sniffing out the aroma of a garbage can or a candy bar on the dash, he has an uncanny way of sniffing out our vulnerabilities and spotting our weaknesses. Think of the story of Job. When Satan couldn’t get him to curse God by taking his wealth and livestock, servants, herdsmen, workers, and children, he came back and took the man’s health. Although Job never cursed God, he lost perspective and cursed the day he was born. As determined and unwilling to admit defeat as a black bear, Satan probably was behind the words of condemnation spoken by Job’s wife and friends. Like a hungry bear, the enemy does not give up easily. When the devil failed to tempt Jesus in the wilderness, he departed “until the next opportunity.” Like the Terminator and hungry bears, Satan will be back.

Just as storing garbage inside, latching bear-proof dumpsters, and locking car doors is a way to prevent bear problems, being aware of our vulnerabilities is a way of protecting us from Satan’s attacks. Recovery programs often use the acronym H-A-L-T as a reminder. Standing for Hungry, Angry, Lonely, and Tired, these feelings make us susceptible to Satan. While we often think of hunger as that grumble in our tummies, it is more. Hunger is dissatisfaction, frustration, a desire for something more or different and often has nothing to do with food. Anger isn’t just being mad at someone. Anger is holding on to unforgiveness, hostility, and resentment, and often includes casting blame. While lonely seems self-explanatory, we don’t have to be alone to be lonely. Even when surrounded by people, we can feel isolated, unappreciated, deserted, and desolate. Being tired can be physical exhaustion, but it’s also apathy, feeling drained by circumstances (or people), or wanting to abandon both hope and effort.

Being aware of these feelings when they arise helps us take extra precautions to protect ourselves. Instead of locking our dumpsters and cars, we redouble our efforts to study God’s Word, pray, worship with praise, offer thanks, gather in Christian fellowship, or even seek Christian counseling. When we leave ourselves vulnerable with hunger, anger, loneliness, or tiredness, we’re little safer from the enemy’s attack than people who keep their food in their tents when camping, store their garbage outside, don’t lock their Subarus, or fail to latch bear-proof dumpsters. Whether from bears or Satan, we’re just asking for trouble.

Satan loves to fish in the troubled waters of a discontented heart. [Thomas Watson]

Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. [1 Peter 5:8-9 (NLT)]

But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one. [2 Thessalonians 3:3 (NLT)]

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January 8, 2026

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Attitudes & Behavior, Bible Stories, Challenges & Difficulty, Faith & Hope, Prayer

HE’S ALWAYS READY

Listen closely to my prayer, O Lord; hear my urgent cry. I will call to you whenever I’m in trouble, and you will answer me. [Psalm 86:6-7 (NLT)]

God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. [Psalm 46:1 (NLT)]

Once upon a time, a little boy was busy digging in the sand at the beach. Like other youngsters through the years, he thought he even might be able to dig all the way to China. His steadfast excavations got so deep that he encountered a large rock. With great determination, he dug and dug with his plastic shovel in an attempt to free it from the ground. Unfortunately, the little boy and his small shovel were no match for the rock. When the shovel broke in two, the boy let out a howl and burst into tears. Hearing the child’s cries, his father immediately went to comfort him. Through his sobs, the boy told how he’d tried and tried to free the rock but was too weak, his arm was too short, and he’d broken his only shovel. His father gently asked why he hadn’t used all of his strength. “But I did, Daddy, I really did!” exclaimed the boy. “No, son, you didn’t,” explained the man as he reached into the hole, grabbed the rock with his large hands, and pulled it from the ground. “You should have called me!”

While the circumstances and challenges are different, we’re really not much different than that little boy. Determined to be self-sufficient and strong, we often fail to call on our Heavenly Father to help with the heavy lifting. I’ve never sobbed at the beach while holding a broken shovel but I’ve sat in despair, hopelessness, and tears in plenty of other places because I thought I was at the end of all my resources. It’s usually after complaining to God with a variety of whys—why this, why now, why here, and (my personal favorite) why me—that I finally resort to asking Him for help! Perhaps our trials exist to drive us to God—to trust in Him and call on Him in faith. While God rarely offers an answer to the whys, He does respond and, if it’s something He wants done, He helps me find a way to get it done.

True confessions here! When I was away over the holidays, I had a glitch in my website. While two devotions were posted on the site, they failed to be sent out to my subscribers. Upon returning home, after spending over two hours with the site’s AI assistant, I was no further along in finding the cause or solution. After AI finally conceded defeat, I was turned over to a real person for a live chat. The site’s “Happiness Engineer” was stumped but promised to get back to me later in the day. It was not until I was awaiting the response that I finally used all the strength available by going to the true “Happiness Engineer” in Heaven. Shortly after praying, I received the very simple solution to my problem! Why did I wait and when will I learn?

Famine in Israel, an agricultural society, was a grave matter. After Israel suffered from a three-year famine, David prayed to God about it. Why did he wait? What was David doing during the three years of food scarcity before he finally fell to his knees and consulted God? Why didn’t he pray at the first sign of trouble rather than waiting until the people were starving? Could pride have made David think that he and his advisors could solve a food crisis on their own? If so, that pride caused his people to suffer for three years simply because he didn’t use all the strength available to him by calling on his Father! It was only after his prayer that the Lord told David the famine’s cause and David did what needed to be done to end it. [2 Samuel 21]

Ours is not a God of Last Resort! He is not where we go when all else fails: when the shovel breaks or the grain bins are empty. Rather than a back-up plan, God is our first and best option! Ours is a first-responder God! He’s the first call we should make when the rock seems immovable, we discover insects infesting our fields, a drought threatens the harvest, the website isn’t working, or we see challenges looming on the horizon. With His power, we can do things we could never accomplish by ourselves. Let us be strong in the Lord!

We tend to use prayer as a last resort, but God wants it to be our first line of defense. We pray when there’s nothing else we can do, but God wants us to pray before we do anything at all. Most of us would prefer, however, to spend our time doing something that will get immediate results. We don’t want to wait for God to resolve matters in His good time because His idea of ‘good time’ is seldom in sync with ours. [Oswald Chambers]

A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. [Ephesians 6:10 (NLT)]

He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. … Those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint. [Isaiah 40:29,31 (NLT)]

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