Psalm 91

Many people in America feel that prayer does not work. I have heard the doubts of people numerous times as I have taught on prayer over the past 10 years. The Bible says, "For I am the LORD, I do not change" Mal 3:6 (NKJV). According to this verse, God does not change so therefore prayer should still work today. Perhaps the problem with prayer is not with God, but with the person praying. One way to build your faith in prayer is to read books about prayer and stories of how God answered prayer in the past. I will give a World War II story taken from the book, Psalm 91, by Peggy Joyce Ruth. This book is given to every soldier in our church who goes overseas. It has many miraculous stories of how God has protected those who pray the scriptures from Psalm 91. My mother had me memorize Psalm 91 (all 16 verses) as a child and there is no better scripture to have hidden in your heart. I quote it all the time.

The Miracle of Seadrift, Texas

In the small town of Seadrift, Texas during World War II a church posted the pictures of soldiers in their town who were going off to war. There were 52 to be exact and five of them were brothers. This church prayed for these men during the entire war and not one of the died. They all were able to return home.

“It was the Psalm 91 promise of protection that the prayer warriors prayed over those young men who were daily putting themselves in harm’s way to protect their country. One of the intercessors said that God had them literally bombard heaven. And one by one, every Seadrift soldier returned safely from the battlefields of Europe, the South Pacific, and the Far East, in spite of the fact that hundreds of thousands of American lives were lost on those battlefronts.” (p. 195)

“The incredible story of God’s protection didn’t end with World War II. One day Sgt. King, the grandson of one of the fifty-two soldiers who served in Iraq, called his mother to say that something was not right. He didn’t feel the shield of protection anymore for his men, and he knew something was badly amiss. It was at that time that the family noticed all the military pictures were gone from the bulletin board. They had been taken down because the actual war was considered to be over…After bringing this to the attention of the pastor, the photos were put back. Interestingly, without knowing that his picture had been removed and subsequently put back on display, Sgt. King wrote home again to say that his peace and security had returned. They didn’t lose any more men, and the troubles had begun to subside. The family knew that it was no coincidence that the deaths and trouble occurred within the three-week period the photos were out of sight. Even though the troops were being prayed for, there was something about corporate prayer from an entire church, with the pictures displayed so the intercessors had visual contact when they prayed, that made a big difference. What a powerful tool prayer is!” (p. 198)

Ruth, Peggy Joyce and Angelia Ruth Schum. Psalm 91. Peggy Joyce Ruth Ministries, 2010.