PREVENTIVE PRAYER

“Preventive Prayer”

By Pastor Mark Taylor

“Give ear to my words, O Lord, Consider my meditation. Give heed to the voice of my cry, My King and my God, For to You I will pray.  My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord; In the morning I will direct it to You, And I will look up. For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, Nor shall evil dwell with You.The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all workers of iniquity. But as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your mercy;  In fear (respect) of You I will worship toward Your holy temple.  For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous; 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 With favor You will surround him as with a shield.” (Psalm 5: 1-12).

Coming into the presence of God can calm the spirit and soul of all of us. The best time to pray is before you need to pray.  I would call it “preventive prayer”.  It is easier for you to ask the Lord Jesus to help you make the right decisions each day, than to ask Him to help you fix the problems you create by making wrong decisions.

“My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord; In the morning I will direct it to You”.   A good time to start asking God for guidance is early in the morning.  After our day gets started we are going to have all kind of distractions and commitments.  We should ask God to help us in the many decisions we have to make throughout the day.  John Bunyan, the author of Pilgrims’s Progress, said: “You can do more than pray, after you have prayed, but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed.” Prayer enhances us and empowers us for life each day.

“You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, Nor shall evil dwell with You.The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all workers of iniquity.”  If God hates evil then what should we do or how should we feel about it?  As a child of God, we should avoid as much evil as we possibly can and people who enjoy it.  Our Lord Jesus has told us to pray to our Heavenly Father: “Lead us not into temptation, and deliver us from evil.”  If we do not want to get into difficulties we should pray this “preventive prayer”.

God wants to hear your prayers and give you many blessings. In order to do this, we have to begin and end our day with asking for forgiveness of our sins and strength to overcome our sinful desires throughout the day.  Psalm 66:18-19 “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer.”

“But as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your mercy;  In fear (respect) of You I will worship toward Your holy temple.”  One of the best places to practice your “preventive prayer” is in God’s House.  Today that is the “Church”.  You will find God’s mercy through hearing His Word read, sung, and preached. 

As you receive God’s mercy you should be merciful to others.  “Blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy.” Matthew 5:7.   If we don’t treat others right how can we expect God to treat us right and answer our prayers?

“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 For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous;  With favor You will surround him as with a shield.” 

It is God’s desire to bless you with answered prayers.  There are many things Our Heavenly Father desires to give us and He encourages us to ask. “And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”  (Luke 11:9)  The context of this verse is not about getting everything you ask for, but that there is no request to hard for God to answer.  We call these miracles. Jesus also said to pray:  “Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.” (Luke 11:2).  Remember that these verses are conditional in the sense that God is not going to answer “yes” to things that He knows will harm you or others.  But God’s Word also says: “You have not, because you ask not.” (James 4:2).  Again, He is talking to those who love Him and serve Him.

God is in the protection business.  There is no better insurance plan than to pray for God’s protection over you and your family.  This is “preventive prayer”.  Our Lord Jesus reminds us that:  “Satan is come to steal, kill and destroy you, but I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly.” (John 20:31).  

If God is our refuge and strength, let us pray, asking for mercy and grace constantly. WHY? Because we need Him.  If we take refuge in God during difficult times, the outcome will be good and we will be glad.

“Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16).

We use “preventive maintenance” on machinery and vehicles to keep them from breaking down.  I would encourage you to start using “Preventive Prayer” as a daily part of your life.  God will enjoy the fellowship and time with you.  You will be blessed and protected.