In Acts, chapter 27, Paul and two hundred other men and women were on a ship when the weather turned ugly and the ship sank. God's man, the great and powerful apostle Paul, was on board, and still the ship went down!
How would the body of Christ react if a great man of God, who was known for signs and wonders and miracles in his ministry, was flying to minister somewhere, and his airplane crashed? Even if he and the other passengers were uninjured, there would be all kinds of discussion about why this happened. Was this an attack of the enemy? Was he in sin? Did he get out of God's will? Was he ignoring the Holy Spirit?
We can learn a lot from the apostle Paul's case in Acts, chapter 17. He had warned the sailors that they should not sail, but they ignored him. Then, when the storm struck, he had prayed and God had told him that although the ship and all its cargo would be lost, everyone on board the ship would live.
God also told Paul the reason he and the others were being spared: Paul had to fulfill God's will for his life and be brought before Caesar to testify of Jesus. There was supernatural protection in that calamity because Paul was a man of prayer and he was in the will of God. Therefore, we must pray for our kids to know God's will and do it, because that is a place of safety.
As for Paul, after the ship had run aground on the island and all the people were safe, he helped build a fire and was attacked again. In Acts 28:3-5 a snake "fastened on his hand." But he shook it off and the venom had no effect on him. God could have prevented the snake, but He didn't because Paul's deliverance was a witness of God's power to the islanders.
Prayer doesn't eliminate the problems of life for our kids; prayer moves God to deliver them from the problems of life. Even when negative and catastrophic things happen, He will be supernaturally there to protect them, to perform His will, to give them His wisdom, to empower them, and to care for them.
Sometimes we think it is God's best to avoid all problems in life, but that just doesn't happen on planet earth today! That's why I love what it says in Psalm 34:19, "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all."
Father, in the name of Jesus, we thank You for our kids, and we pray that You would be their refuge and fortress, that their protection would be in You. We pray that no evil will come upon them. Neither will any sickness, evil, or calamity come near their dwelling. Thank You for commissioning Your angels to guard, to protect, and to defend them from all harm.
We pray that no weapon that is designed against them will succeed, and every tongue that would rise up against them will be silenced. Great will be their peace and undisturbed composure because their righteousness is from You. We thank You for Your delivering hand of protection in whatever challenge or attack they face. In the nName of Jesus we pray, amen.
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers