The Importance Of Prayer Covering In Iraq
Leslie Gerald a sergeant in the army gives this powerful testimony of prayer protection." During the first year of my deployment to Iraq there was a very tangible sense of protective covering of God's hand. We had not lost a single soldier. Emotionally i felt no loss of life impact that usually results from war. At twenty three,as a young man off to war, i was expecting action. However i did not see a single person killed. I experienced non of the gruesomeness of war. The prayer covering of the church and family gave me a totally different battle experience.
It wasn't because we hadn't seen any danger, because we had, but there was a pervading sense of security over us on the battlefield. We had seen though "rough stuff" without a scratch and …show more content…
had felt protected and peaceful for a whole time. So dramatic was this to me and so real,that there were times when i would see one of my buddies in danger and i would go stand in front of him. The protection was sop real to me; it was almost as if i could reach out and touch it. However in April there was talk of our returning home , and something changed.
I felt a though the prayer cover was lifting. I could sense danger i had never felt before for those around me. Personally i felt okay but i was aware of the danger for the people around me. Withing days of my realizing that something was wrong we began losing soldiers in my company,we ran out of supplies,there was drastic cut in our food rations. What i experienced during those couple of weeks, i knew shouldn't be happening because i had my family and church praying for us.
The moment i got to a location where i could make calls home i called my aunt and uncle. They found out that the church bulletin board displaying our pictures, as a reminder to pray for us , had been taken down. Relief had swept over the people when some of the soldiers had returned home and news had reported that the end was in sight; therefore, prayer had let up. When i asked the date that the bulletin board had come down it matched up with the time when i sensed in Iraq that something had gone wrong with our prayer covering.
The church immediately put our pictures back up and started fervently praying again.
The results were immediate. the difference was uncanny and the protection once again was was tangible. From that moment on, not one more soldiers in our company was lost. All this testified to me first hand of what it means when people pray. From our first station in Germany we were all shipped in different directions, yet everyone from our German church fellowship made it back without harm. even though we went to fight in different places, everywhere from Iraq to Kuwait, the prayer covering went with us. i am a believer who knows for certain that soldiers tangible experience the difference when people pray over them."
In Exodus 17:8-16 we find Israel at war with Amalek. Joshua is down i the valley with the soldiers fighting. Moses is up on the mountain interceding for them. He has his hand lifted up as he prays. the elevation of Moses' hand , with the rod in ti, is an appeal to god for help. It's a sign of complete dependence on God for victory. As long as the hand is up the Israelite s prevail because God gives them strength and courage. However, when Moses puts down his hand, God leaves them to themselves and they start losing the
battle.
It may be said , that Moses might have continued to pray, though his hands were weary; but only those who have tried, know what a difficult thin it is to pray with intensity for a prolonged period. probably Moses' spiritual and physical powers collapsed together; and when he dropped his hand through physical fatigue, his intercession ceased as well. To impress upon Israel the importance of intercessory prayer, God made success and failure alternate with its continuance, thus teaching his people a lesson of inestimable value. Our prayer is an umbrella of protection over our people wherever they may be under the sun. Prayer overcomes geographical barrier to protect people far away from us. We must never forget that prayer makes a difference.
It wasn't because we hadn't seen any danger, because we had, but there was a pervading sense of security over us on the battlefield. We had seen though "rough stuff" without a scratch and …show more content…
had felt protected and peaceful for a whole time. So dramatic was this to me and so real,that there were times when i would see one of my buddies in danger and i would go stand in front of him. The protection was sop real to me; it was almost as if i could reach out and touch it. However in April there was talk of our returning home , and something changed.
I felt a though the prayer cover was lifting. I could sense danger i had never felt before for those around me. Personally i felt okay but i was aware of the danger for the people around me. Withing days of my realizing that something was wrong we began losing soldiers in my company,we ran out of supplies,there was drastic cut in our food rations. What i experienced during those couple of weeks, i knew shouldn't be happening because i had my family and church praying for us.
The moment i got to a location where i could make calls home i called my aunt and uncle. They found out that the church bulletin board displaying our pictures, as a reminder to pray for us , had been taken down. Relief had swept over the people when some of the soldiers had returned home and news had reported that the end was in sight; therefore, prayer had let up. When i asked the date that the bulletin board had come down it matched up with the time when i sensed in Iraq that something had gone wrong with our prayer covering.
The church immediately put our pictures back up and started fervently praying again.
The results were immediate. the difference was uncanny and the protection once again was was tangible. From that moment on, not one more soldiers in our company was lost. All this testified to me first hand of what it means when people pray. From our first station in Germany we were all shipped in different directions, yet everyone from our German church fellowship made it back without harm. even though we went to fight in different places, everywhere from Iraq to Kuwait, the prayer covering went with us. i am a believer who knows for certain that soldiers tangible experience the difference when people pray over them."
In Exodus 17:8-16 we find Israel at war with Amalek. Joshua is down i the valley with the soldiers fighting. Moses is up on the mountain interceding for them. He has his hand lifted up as he prays. the elevation of Moses' hand , with the rod in ti, is an appeal to god for help. It's a sign of complete dependence on God for victory. As long as the hand is up the Israelite s prevail because God gives them strength and courage. However, when Moses puts down his hand, God leaves them to themselves and they start losing the
battle.
It may be said , that Moses might have continued to pray, though his hands were weary; but only those who have tried, know what a difficult thin it is to pray with intensity for a prolonged period. probably Moses' spiritual and physical powers collapsed together; and when he dropped his hand through physical fatigue, his intercession ceased as well. To impress upon Israel the importance of intercessory prayer, God made success and failure alternate with its continuance, thus teaching his people a lesson of inestimable value. Our prayer is an umbrella of protection over our people wherever they may be under the sun. Prayer overcomes geographical barrier to protect people far away from us. We must never forget that prayer makes a difference.