August 26, 2026

1 hour ago
6 min read

The Vietnam Miracle

God wants each of us to understand that we can be watchmen for our family, friends, and even our leaders. One of the great misconceptions about intercession is that it’s only for a few select individuals. But the truth is, God wants each of us to know we can create protective barriers, walls, shields between other individuals and the harm that would otherwise befall them. And we don’t have to be seasoned intercessors who pray hours a day in order to walk in this calling and privilege! YOU can be used by God to do this.

Here are a couple of examples.

I heard a man once tell of having a dream that his daughter died. He wasn’t shown what caused the death, only that she had died. He had the dream more than once that night. He knew it was an alert from the Lord to pray for her safety, not a warning to prepare himself for her death.

He did not tell her about the dream so as not to alarm her, but every day - multiple times throughout the day - he prayed a short prayer for her. Since he did not know details, he simply asked God to protect her and then declared that no attempt on her life would succeed. But again, he prayed this simple prayer and made this declaration several times each day. This went on for a month! Sometimes the key to victory is consistency and perseverance.

After about a month, she received a promotion at work that included a life insurance policy. The policy required a physical exam. After some bloodwork, her doctor approached her anxiously and said, “What have you been doing?” He then told her they could find NO potassium in her system, and that they couldn’t understand how she was still alive.

She informed him that she had been on a strange diet for several weeks, in which she ate only one or two things. The doctor said they needed to rush her to the hospital and place her on IVs to replenish the potassium. They did, and she was fine afterward.

Her father’s intercession saved her life. Though he did not know the details, he simply covered her in prayer and became a protective shield around her.

Protection During War

Our late friend Beth Alves, in her book Becoming A Prayer Warrior, shared a powerful testimony about being a watchman in prayer. Beth was a forerunner in both the prayer and prophetic movements. In her own words:

“An example of intercession in my own life involves a cousin I hadn’t seen or communicated with for about ten years. I crawled out of bed in the middle of the night for a glass of water when a picture of my cousin canvassed my mind. Suddenly, I dropped to my knees and began to cry out, ‘God, don’t let Mike move! Keep him still, Lord! Keep him still! Oh God, please don’t let him move! Hold him, Lord! Hold him!’

“Even though I was pleading on Mike’s behalf with my words, I remember thinking, This is really ridiculous. Why am I praying this? Then the words ceased. So I got up, drank a glass of water, and started back toward the bedroom. Again I fell to the floor and began to cry out with a grave sense of urgency. ‘Don’t let him move, God! Don’t let Mike move! Stay still! Stay still!’ The words came to an abrupt end. This time I thought, This must be a nightmare!

“I had no feeling inside of me other than the feeling to pray. I got up and began to pace the floor, wondering what in the world this was all about. One more time, I took a few steps toward the bedroom, when again I dropped to the floor. Only this time, I was yelling, ‘Get him up, Lord! Get him to run! Run, Mike! Lord, help him to run…run…run! Let him run, God! Run, run, run!’ After several minutes, a calm came over me, and I returned to bed for the night.

“The following day, I called my aunt to see if she could help me put the pieces together about my puzzling outcries the night before. She informed me only that Mike was in Vietnam (this was during the Vietnam War). The experience still made very little sense.

“Finally, a month later, my aunt called to read me a letter she had received. The letter told how Mike, who was a pilot, had been shot down on the day of my prayer experience. He and his parachute landed in a tree. He had been trained to get out of the area as quickly as possible, but explained that just a short distance from the crash site, he fell into a bush. ‘Mom,’ he wrote, ‘it was like I was pinned down. I felt like somebody was sitting on me. The Vietcong came and were so close they were unknowingly standing on my pant leg while looking up at my parachute in the tree!

“They turned away from me and began to move in the opposite direction, slashing the bushes with their bayonets. It looked safe, so I started to get up and run when once again I fell into the bush as though someone was pushing me. I lay there for a couple of minutes when suddenly I had the impulse to get up and run. I heard a helicopter, so I sprinted through the wooded area, following the direction of the noise, to an open space where I was whisked off to safety. The helicopter crew said they came in response to my beeper. And yet, it was damaged when I was shot down and WASN’T WORKING!’”(1)

Incredible! Half asleep and not understanding what was happening, the Lord used Beth to save his life. It was almost as though her conscious mind was disengaged to the point that Holy Spirit could use Beth without her rational thoughts getting in the way. I have a feeling the Lord had fun with that one!

Don’t overcomplicate the watchmen concept of prayer. If Holy Spirit brings someone to mind and you feel an uneasiness, it is probably an alert to pray. If you don’t know the details, pray in whatever way you are prompted, and ask God for the person’s safety. Pray Psalm 91, for example. If you feel it is necessary, do so ongoingly, daily, until understanding comes.

In these perilous and violent times, be alert for your family and friends. Don’t be fearful, just be alert, as Ephesians 6:18 tells us: “Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere” (NLT). And this must include our leaders, as we spoke of yesterday. We can be the shield of prayer that protects them and their families from harm.

Prayer and Decree:

For today’s prayer and decree, we will read Psalm 91 together. As we do so, insert the name of a family member you want to pray for, or perhaps the President, or someone else Holy Spirit brings to mind.

“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust.’ Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence.

“He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you. Only with your eyes shall you look, and see the reward of the wicked. Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place,

“No evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; for He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, the young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot. Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name.

“He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation.”

Psalm 91, NKJV