Calling Out to God: Defensive Prayer

The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies. (Psa 18:2-3)

And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. (Psa 50:15)

RPC sent me a link to a video that reminded me of a seminar I attended years ago. The speaker talked about teaching our wives & daughters to call out to God out loud if they are ever attacked.

He related some remarkable stories about women who did this. One of them was about a woman who had attended one of his earlier seminars.

She had to park her car some distance away from the auditorium where the sessions were held, and as she walked from her car, a man grabbed her and started to pull her into the darkness. She had the presence of mind to remember what she had learned at the previous session of the seminar.

She called out to God for protection and that he would stop the man from doing this terrible thing. Upon hearing this, the orc said something to this effect: "Oh, are you one of those Christians meeting up the street? You shouldn't be walking alone in this neighborhood -- it's dangerous." And then he let her go.

Within minutes, the police picked up the man, who turned out to be a serial rapist they had been trying to catch.

The lesson here is not to throw away your handgun or your wasp spray, any more than David threw away his sword when God inspired him to write the passage above. The point is that our ultimate faith is not in our weapons or our skill, but in God.

I have addressed this issue in The Christian Martialist and Providence and Another Lesson on Providence. It's a lesson, however, that bears repeating.

Here is the video of an ABC News interview with a woman who called out to God in the presence of an armed robber: