July 28, 2025

Deliverance from Hidden Traps and Deadly Hazards

The Hebrew language is pictorial. The letters form pictures and concepts, and the context gives us specific applications. The word paga(1) is a good example: the picture or concept of this word is of two or more entities coming together or meeting. The concept can be applied to various scenarios, including a meeting between two individuals, someone arriving at a location, carrying someone’s burden, striking or hitting an enemy, and more. Anytime two or more things “come together” or “meet,” this is paga.

In my books Intercessory Prayer and The Essential Guide to Prayer, I explain how all of these concepts and usages of paga can be pictures of intercession. And indeed, paga is sometimes translated as such. Intercessory prayer creates a meeting between God’s provision and individuals’ needs, allowing us to carry one another’s burdens and strike our spiritual enemy with God’s power.

Interestingly, paga is also the word for a boundary or border, the point at which two territories meet or connect. Paga is used repeatedly this way in Joshua 19 to define the boundaries of the tribes of Israel. When applying this picture to prayer,

paga is the establishing of boundaries or perimeters of protection. Psalm 91 describes the power of the “secret place” of prayer. Verses1-4 from THE MESSAGE state:

“You who sit down in the High God’s presence, spend the night in Shaddai’s shadow, say this: ‘God, You're my refuge. I trust in You, and I’m safe!’ That’s right--He rescues you from hidden traps, shields you from deadly hazards. His huge outstretched arms protect you— under them you’re perfectly safe; His arms fend off all harm.”

What a promise! 

The Scriptures also refer to this protection from God as a tower to which we can run for strength and safety. In biblical times, towers were associated with security, as they provided locations for shooting weapons and offered visibility for watchmen. The following verses referred to this:

“The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runs into it and is safe.” (Proverbs 18:10) 

“For thou has been a refuge for me, a tower of strength against the enemy.” (Psalm 61:3)

“The story is told of a missionary experiencing the sovereign protection of God while taking the gospel to an interior region of China. Ruthless bandits along the road had prevented this area from being reached. However, this young missionary went anyway, preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ. He later returned to the base without having seen any bandits. Shortly thereafter, the missionaries heard a rumor circulating throughout the area: the bandits had not attacked the man because an entourage of eleven soldiers had traveled with him. Since he had traveled alone, the missionaries concluded angels must have protected him! But why eleven?

“The missionary wrote about this amazing experience to his home church in the United States. His pastor asked when it had happened. Upon receiving the information, the pastor excitedly communicated his part of the story. God had prompted him to call a special prayer meeting for this missionary. When the date of the prayer meeting arrived, the pastor had been disappointed at the poor turnout. That changed, however, after he received the missionary’s amazing report. The pastor was thrilled to tell him, ‘You’ll be pleased to know that, counting myself, there were exactly eleven of us who were praying for you that very day.’”(2) 

Those eleven faithful intercessors created a wall, a perimeter of protection, around this missionary through their prayers of intercession. Through them, Psalm 91 and Proverbs 18:10 became reality. God wants to do the same through our intercession, building walls of protection around individuals.

Isaiah 26:1 and 60:18 refer to God’s protection as “walls”: 

“In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: ‘We have a strong city; He sets up walls and ramparts for security.’”

“Violence will not be heard again in your land, nor devastation or destruction within your borders; but you will call your walls salvation, and your gates praise.”

The apostle Paul was a firm believer in receiving prayers for protection and deliverance from others. He frequently requested prayer from those with whom he was in relationship. Romans 15:30-31 states:

“Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me, that I may be delivered from those who are disobedient in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may prove acceptable to the saints.”

Again, in Philippians 1:19, Paul states his confidence in “deliverance through your prayers.” Also, in Philemon 1:22, he says, “I hope that through your prayers I shall be given to you.” Paul was frequently persecuted and imprisoned for his preaching of the gospel. He placed his hope of deliverance from this in the prayers of his friends. He believed in the power of intercession, not just for the furthering of the gospel, but also for protection.

Two well-known ancient strongholds of protection from enemies exist in Jordan and Israel. The city of Petra (Greek for “rock”) in Jordan was virtually impregnable against attack by the weaponry of the ancient world. The original name of Petra was Sela, the Hebrew word for “rock.” The stronghold of Masada, from the Hebrew word metsudah meaning “fortress,” was an incredible natural fortress in Israel, located near the Dead Sea. In Psalm 31:3, David uses both of these pictures, saying of God, “You are my rock (sela) and my fortress (metsudah).” God is our Petra and our Masada! 

A man who has been a spiritual father in my life for over 40 years, Jim Hodges, texted me after reading Friday’s post. He said that while reading it, he felt from Holy Spirit that Attorney General Pam Bondi, Director of National Security Tulsi Gabbard, and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem needed increased prayer for protection. These three women currently find themselves on the front lines of the Trump administration’s actions and are hated by radicals on the Left. I concur with Jim, of course. We should pray for protection for all of those in government, but today we’ll do so specifically for these three women. It would be great if, for a season, some of you would add them to your daily prayers.

Pray with me:

Father, we live in perilous times. Satan, whose mission is to steal, kill, and destroy, is on a rampage. We are thankful that we can look to You as our rock and fortress, our Petra and Masada (Psalm 31:3). You are our strong tower (Psalm 18:10). You rescue us from hidden traps, shield us from deadly hazards…Your huge outstretched arms protect us – under them we are perfectly safe (Psalm 91:1-4). We declare that our homes are like impenetrable cities, surrounded by spiritual walls of angelic protection.

We also pray this over Pam Bondi, Tulsi Gabbard, and Kristi Noem. We ask you to protect them and their families from evil (Matthew 6:13). Surround them with angelic guards and shelter them in Your “secret place” of protection (Psalm 91). 

We pray for President Trump and his team, our congressional leaders, judges and justices, as well as state and local leaders. Surround them with protection. Uncover demonic plots to harm them; expose terrorists and their plans in our nation. Give those in authority supernatural help and success in finding the enemy. Protect our law enforcement individuals as they deal with criminals. 

We pray against false evidence that is fabricated to accuse and destroy innocent leaders. We ask You to expose all lies and corruption, and vindicate the righteous.

We thank You for all of this and ask it in the name of Yeshua. Amen.

Our decree:

We declare that God is our Petra and our Masada, our rock and our fortress.

Portions of today’s post were adapted from my book The Essential Guide to Prayer, published by Baker Books.

Click on the link below to watch the full video.

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1. James Strong, The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1990), ref. no. 6293.

2. Dick Eastman and Jack Hayford, Living and Praying in Jesus’ Name (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 1988), pp. 13-14.