Wear Your Helmet!
by Sara Flynn
Jan/Feb 2010
On Labor Day, I fell off my bicycle and hit my head on the sidewalk. I couldn’t find my helmet that day and went off without it. I sustained a serious concussion which has resulted in temporary double vision. Since then, I have given considerable thought the importance of wearing my helmet every time I go biking. I have also thought about the fact that I did put on my spiritual armor that morning and thank God; my injuries could have been much worse.
At the most recent School of Healing Prayer®, several speakers, including Francis, stressed the importance of praying for protection every day. Make no mistake; the body of Christ is under attack.
Francis, as you may know, has written a Prayer of Protection that we use daily at CHM and teach at our School of Healing Prayer®. I want to share it with you again here:
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In the name of Jesus Christ and by the power of His cross and Blood, we bind up the power of any evil spirits and command them not to block our prayers. We bind up the powers of earth, air, water, fire, the netherworld and the satanic forces of nature. We break any curses, hexes or spells sent against us and declare them null and void.1 We break all assignments of any evil spirits sent against us and send them to Jesus to deal with them as He will. Lord, we ask you to bless our enemies by sending your Holy Spirit to lead them to repentance and conversion. Furthermore, we bind up all interaction and communication in the world of evil spirits as it affects us and our ministry. We ask for the protection of the shed blood of Jesus Christ over ________________ (our families and all those we hold dear, our homes, cars, pets, job, churches, etc). Thank you, Lord, for your protection and send your angels, especially St. Michael the Archangel, to help us in the battle. We ask you to guide us in our prayers: share with us your Spirit’s power and compassion. Amen.2 |
Francis and Judith recommend adding a petition for protection from accidents, sickness and harm. They note that when they pray these prayers together as a married couple, they are more effective. They observe that when one of them has an accident, they didn’t pray their prayers of protection together that day.
Francis and Judith pray prayers of protection for the CHM staff, board, prayer ministers and their families each day and we value their spiritual covering very much. If you are a prayer minister, ask your spiritual authority to cover you in prayer each day.3
I, along with several others, recently interviewed a former satanic priest who was also a Wiccan for many years (he placed his faith in Jesus Christ this year and received deliverance prayer at CHM last spring). During the interview, we showed him a copy of CHM’s Prayer of Protection. He was impressed that we included prayers concerning the elements of nature; he said those are the exact elements on which witches call to curse victims.
In addition to the Prayer of Protection, we recommend putting on the whole armor of God as described in Ephesians 6:10–18. Each day I pray, “Because of Jesus’ love and sacrifice for me, I am honored and privileged to put on the helmet of salvation4; the breastplate of God’s righteousness and the girdle of His truth. For shoes, I put on the peace that comes from the Good News of Jesus Christ so that I will be prepared to fight at all times. I take up the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God (Lord, please remind me of scriptures today which will defeat Satan and his dark realm); and the shield of faith behind which I stand firm and pray against the fiery darts of the enemy.”
I also pray daily prayers similar to those found in Liberty Savard’s book, Shattering Your Strongholds (see also Joy Lamb’s book, The Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God):
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I bind my mind to the mind of Christ.5 I bind my will to the will of Christ. I bind my emotions to the emotions of Christ. I bind by desires to the desires of Christ. I bind my affections to the affections of Christ. I bind my feet to the paths of Christ. I bind my hands to the works of Christ. I bind my mouth to the words of Christ. I bind my ears to the Words of Christ. I bind my eyes to the vision of Christ. I bind my character to the truth of Christ. I bind my heart to the love of Christ. “I loose from myself anything that is not like Christ (lust, anger jealousy, selfishness, pride, arrogance, gossip, criticism, judgment, etc.) and declare all of those aspects of the old sin nature dead in Christ Jesus (Gal. 3:20). I present myself, a living sacrifice, as an instrument of righteousness and not of sin. All this I do for the sake of my Lord, Jesus Christ, and by the power of the Holy Spirit and all for the glory of God, my Father in heaven. Amen. |
Having done that, I ask the Lord to send his ministering angels to sustain me and my loved ones (see Hebrews 1:14). We can renew these prayers of protection several times during the day and before sleeping as well.
Finally, pray in tongues at least fifteen minutes a day6. The Holy Spirit wants to minister to us directly. One of the few things I remember about the ambulance ride to the hospital the day I fell off my bike is that I prayed in the Spirit all the way there. Perhaps that’s because I always pray in tongues as I drive to work. Now that I have one eye covered to mitigate the double vision, my driving prayers are even more important — for me and everyone else on the road.
I implore you to wear your bicycle helmet but even more to cover yourself spiritually as well. If you’re looking for a spiritual discipline to practice in 2010, look no further. As the Nike advertisement says, “Just do it!”
1I add, “…and please send abundant blessing in place of any curse.”
2This prayer is available on a wallet sized card through our bookstore.
3For more on the importance of spiritual covering, read John Paul Jackson’s book, Needless Casualties of War.
4Salvation literally means “the act of saving or protecting from harm, risk, loss, destruction, etc.” (www.dictionary.reference.com)
5Reading scripture is also critically important for daily renewal of the human mind.
6I recommend Dennis Bennett’s book, The Holy Spirit and You, a Study Guide to the Spirit Filled Life, for those who do not yet have a personal prayer language and want one.
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Sara Flynn is the Ministry Program Director at CHM. |  |