Spiritual Protection in a Dangerous Universe
Is the universe dangerous or benevolent?
I had a discussion with my family once about whether the universe was basically benevolent or dangerous. My United Methodist mother-in-law and my Unitarian sister-in-law voted for benevolent, because they have always been nice people and feel blessed and protected. They are projecting their world view and experience into a cosmic philosophy. They've never been shot or raped or robbed at knife point.
I took the opposite view because, although I haven't personally experienced the above crimes, I'm aware how fortunate I am that I haven't, and I attribute a most of my good fortune to having been religious in one way or another most of my life, meaning I also feel blessed and protected, but some of that is cultural. I've never lived in a high crime area. I also believe that, although God does not spare Christians all loss, pain, and grief, our lot could be a lot worse without His presence in our lives.
We talked about demons and hell. MiL said, "I don't believe in demons. I don't want to believe that there are demons in the universe." Well, that was an honest answer, but I have studied the Bible and the paranormal, so I know for a fact that demons exist, as do rapists and thieves, and demons often affect our lives surreptitiously. I read all the near-death experiences that I can. People see heaven; they also see hell. Hell is always described as a genuinely horrendous place. Jesus called it "outer darkness,"(Matt. 8:12), a place "where the fire is not quenched and the worm doesn't die," (Mark 9:44) and a place where "there will be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth," (Luke 13:28). No one should want to go there, but many people will, some of whom died in the gutter and some of whom died choking on a piece of $45 filet mignon.
Jesus warned his followers often about the dangers of hell and the devil. It's easy for Bible enthusiasts to read those passages and pass them over like they are part of a fictional novel. You believe the words, but it apparently doesn't affect you, so you don't internalize it. There's plenty else to worry and think about in the world.
It isn't hard to gain divine protection. One, be the best person you can be. Two, call on God at whatever level you know of him, and ask for his help. Three, avoid activities that invite demonic entities into your life. Ouija boards, tarot cards, murdering your spouse to gain an inheritance, or selling national secrets to a bloody dictator are not healthy ways to invite protection in a dangerous universe.
Prayer makes a difference. Here are two.
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
If I should die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.
It's a simple child’s prayer, but it packs a punch, and expresses
the hope of every seeker of God. For someone who is not sure how to pray, it’s
a great place to start. But there is an even better prayer.
The Lord’s Prayer
1. Our Father who
dwells in heaven,
2. Praised and
lifted up be your name.
3. May your Kingdom
come,
4. May your will be
done on Earth as it is in heaven.
5. Give us today our
daily bread,
6. And forgive us as
we forgive others.
7. Lead us not into
temptation,
8. But deliver us
from the influence of the Evil One.
9. For to you belongs the Kingdom, the power, and
the glory, amen.
Analysis, line by line
1. Jesus taught his
disciples to pray this prayer. He never referred to God as Yahweh, but always
as Father. That is not to say that he repudiated the God of the Old
Testament/Hebrew Bible. Not at all.
He pointed to the Hebrew Bible as the source of prophecy
about himself. But there are some really harsh things attributed to Yahweh by
the biblical authors that may actually be the works and words of men. The Father
referred to in the prayer is the one who ultimately forgives sins (only if we
ask), so he is the Judge, but he is also the giver of what we need in life and
the protector of our soul. He is the one who has power to break the bonds of
evil in this world. And he loves us enough to want us to be his sons and
daughters. His angels do not abduct our children from their cribs at night. He
protects us all the way we want to protect our children.
Notice that in the prayer, Jesus does not refer to himself.
His ultimate task is to point us to and restore us to the Father. He warned us
when He was on earth, “And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have
one Father, and he is in heaven. 10 Nor are you to be called
‘teacher,’ for you have one Teacher, the Christ.” (Matt. 23:9, 10)
Jesus is referring to spiritual, guru-like titles here, not family or local
educational relationships.
In both the prayer and the Matthew passage above, Jesus
reminds us that the Father dwells in a specific place. It’s not a blah fog or
force. He is a person in a place, and if we’re really smart, it’s where we want
to go when we die. There is a universe of blah out there for wayward souls to
hang out in. I personally want to be where the Father is.
2. Heaven is full of
worship. Many NDEers report that over there, there is music exalting God. On a new show on the Biology Channel, a Christian man died and was rushing
through a forest and a meadow. The trees parted as he came through and all
nature in the meadow seemed to whisper, “He’s going to see the King.” He did in
fact come into the presence of Jesus Christ, and of course, Jesus told him he
had to go back.
3. Jesus is not a
Christ-force. He is a King and there is a Kingdom of God. For a thousand years
or more the Israelites/Jews waited for a promised Messiah-King. The prophecies
were numerous and specific. Jesus did come as promised, fulfilling so many
predictions, and he will come again as promised. The Kingdom on Earth begins in
an individual heart. It may grow to a community. We, as citizens, are really
dumb sometimes, and we don’t make the best representatives, but God’s Kingdom
is already at work on Earth and it will continue to emanate the good fruit of
love and compassion until Christ returns in person.
4. The Triune God has
a will, a plan, a desire for the good of mankind. In heaven the angels obey and
honor the Father, and so do all who dwell there.
I used to say the Lord’s Prayer to myself on my way to work
in San Francisco. One day on the RT train, I leaned my head against the window
and began to recite the prayer in my head. The second I thought the words, “May
your will be done on Earth…” I heard these words very distinctly, “Pray that
the will of God will be done today and not the will of man.” It was so clear
that I sat up and immediately began to pray. Silently, I interceeded for our governments,
beginning with local and working my way up to federal. I prayed for Ronald
Reagan, who was president at that time. I couldn’t have known it at the time, but
that turned out to be the morning that Reagan was shot by some idiot trying to
impress his idol, the actress Jodie Foster. It was clearly not God’s will that
Ronald Reagan die that day in that way.
5. Our daily bread,
of course, stands for all those things that we need. We don’t always get what
we want or what we think we need.
Jesus warned against piling up treasures here on earth. He reminded us of the
beauty of the lilies and how the Father sees the sparrow fall and how we don’t
need to be so anxious in life. God truly is a Provider for those who trust in
him.
6. Forgiveness of
others who have hurt us, even deeply, is not an option! Of all the works that
Jesus enjoined us to do, forgiving others is right up there at the top of the
list. No one will walk through heaven’s gates without forgiving and asking for
forgiveness. It may seem like an impossible, unworkable command, but with God
all things are possible. With the help of the Holy Spirit, we can do it.
7. I think the sense
of this line is a request that God will not allow us to face temptations that
we can’t stand up to. The Bible claims that Jesus was tempted in all things as
we are, but he was without sin. None of us will say the same when we see God. A
life review will reveal every thought, every action, even trivial ones. At that
time, we will see our lives as God saw them and understand how many errors we
actually did make.
8. The prayer in
English usually says, “But deliver us from evil.” Equally accurate would be
“The Evil One.” I added the thought of the potential influence of evil spirits, because sometimes the attack
of evil upon us isn’t so much bodily harm but of being swayed toward wrongdoing. Jesus said that Satan is a liar and the
father of lies (John 8:44) (that certainly doesn’t bode well for our
politicians!) and that he "has power to destroy both body and soul in hell" (Matt. 10:28).
Evil spirits love to pretend that they are Jesus himself, or
Mary, or some saint. They can quote Scripture. They can exude psychic, esoteric
knowledge. Every deceptive practice utilized by any intelligence service anywhere
on the planet is familiar to fallen entities. They are a lot like us, because
they ARE us, or were us, stripped of all goodness or sensitivity of conscience.
Some evil spirits are actually fallen angels. UFOs, aliens, and demons are in some way connected with these primeval entities, and some folks
who have fallen into their hands have actually escaped using the name of Jesus.
Why the name doesn’t work for others would have to be another blog post. But if
one in all sincerity calls on the Triune God, they can be delivered from any
dark bondage. Our churches are full of ex-alcoholics, ex-drug addicts,
ex-abductees, and those who got ensnared in the occult. The Father is able to
deliver those who call on him.
9. The last line is a
doxology added later by the Protestant church. It kind of wraps things up.
Conclusion
There is one more kind of prayer that people often use when
feeling threatened, and that is to call on Michael the Archangel. Michael was the patron Prince over the nation of Israel, and we see him fighting for his people in Daniel 10:21. Many of these
people reject the God of the Bible and think that Jesus is just too sectarian.
Michael is indeed a warrior angel who relishes vanquishing the powers of
darkness, and prayer for his help in a crisis can be powerful. But pause and think, how do we even know about him? From the Bible.
If there really is an Archangel Michael, I can assure you that he is a servant
of the King.
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