COMFORT

IN AN
ANXIOUS
WORLD
SEVEN DAYS OF PRAYER FOR
FINDING PEACE IN GOD’S
PROTECTION

PHILIP DE COURCY
Comfort in a Dangerous World 1
 Finding Peace in God’s Protection

It takes courage to live as well as to die. For the Christian, death is not
the worst thing. Because of Christ’s substitutionary death for our sins
and triumphant resurrection, death for the believer opens the door to an
eternity with God and pleasures forevermore (Psa. 16:11). As the apostle
Paul declared, to be with Christ is “far better” (Phil. 1:23).

But to live day after day facing uncertainty, trapped in a body wracked
with pain or surrounded by harsh and unyielding circumstances, is often
much harder to face with courage. The coronavirus pandemic has brought
to us a season of uncertainty that is unlike any in recent memory. Schools
have been closed, businesses have been shuttered, and everyday activities
have been severely curtailed. Unprecedented numbers of Americans are
now seeking courage for things they never imagined facing.

The apostle Paul exhorted believers to “be anxious for nothing, but
in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your
requests be made known to God” (Phil. 4:6). This prayer guide is
designed to help you take cover in the Lord in the midst of this uncertain
and difficult time. Each day will present a brief meditation as well as
suggested topics to focus on in prayer. The believer will find biblical
encouragement to take cover in the promises and presence of God.

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 Day 1: Get on Your Knees

In the chaos and alarm of our times God offers through His Son, Jesus
Christ, the promise of peace that surpasses human comprehension. This
is the kind of peace that allows us to enjoy a little bit of the hush of
Heaven on Earth. It is a perfect peace for an imperfect world as promised
in Isaiah 26:3.

You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because
he trusts in You.

“Gracious Father, I thank You for the gift of your Son, Jesus Christ. I thank You
that Christ offers the promise of peace which surpasses all understanding. I
pray that in the midst of the difficulties all around, that You would keep me
in Your perfect peace. Help me to keep my mind fixed on You in the midst of
all the distractions of life. I place my trust in You and lean not on my own
understanding. I pray that You will keep me in Your perfect peace. In Jesus’s
name, amen.”

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 Day 2: Keeping Your Balance

Let’s be honest, life in the real world doesn’t feel as good as a feel-good
Hollywood movie. In the real world, terrorists become folk heroes, sexual
deviants become cultural icons, corporate crime gets whitewashed in a
bankruptcy court, children are abused, and Christians are martyred for
their faith. Life in the real world isn’t fair. Life seems to be, as someone
put it, a theatre in which all the worst people have the best seats. Does it
not feel like ours is a world where it is good to be bad and bad to be good?
Morally it’s all upside down and back to front—the wicked prosper, and
the righteous suffer.

In Psalm 73 we meet a believer who failed and recovered, stumbled and

regained his footing, and wrote to tell us about that experience of moving
from fear to faith, despair to hope. Through this song, we discover how
to take cover in a life rooted in God-centered worship. You can read the
whole Psalm, but here is a taste:

For indeed, those who are far from You shall perish; You have destroyed
all those who desert You for harlotry. But it is good for me to draw near to
God; I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all Your works
(Psalm 73:27–28).

“Heavenly Father, I thank You that You minister to those like Asaph who
struggled with their faith. I thank You that You are gracious to me even when
I struggle with understanding why the world is the way that it is today. I pray
that I may experience the goodness to drawing near into Your presence and the
joy of engaging in God-centered worship. Father, I pray that You would grant
me a clear understanding of Your unchanging character in the midst of life’s
challenges. In Jesus’s name, Amen.”

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 Day 3: Don’t Be Surprised

The story is told of two brothers who got into a fight with each other.
Hearing the commotion from a distance, their father rushes to break up
the scuffle and find out what is going on. After scolding both of them,
he asks, “Who started it?” The younger of the two answers, “Dad, I hit
him back before he hit me.” Now there is a young man who is not going
to allow himself to be surprised! He anticipated what was coming and
prepared himself for it. Either drawing from intuition or past experience,
he was ready.

In a similar manner, Christians need to anticipate persecution and

suffering at the hands of an unbelieving world. The Bible does not allow
the follower of Jesus Christ to expect to get to Heaven without some
scrapes and scars. Peter says to the pilgrims of the Dispersion:

Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to

try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to
the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is
revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. If you are reproached
for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God
rests upon you (1 Peter 4:12–14).

“Father, thank You for the comfort of Your Word as I walk through the trials of
this life. I pray that the experience of these trials would not catch me by surprise,
but that I would be armed and prepared by the truth of Your Word. Thank You
for your faithfulness and Your constant presence with me—for the truth that I
am never alone. Grant me to experience the blessing of the Holy Spirit as I trust
in You during seasons of suffering. Teach me this day. I pray this in Jesus’s name,
amen.”

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 Day 4: The Real Enemy

When World War I broke out, the war ministry in London disseminated
a coded message to a far-flung British outpost in the heart of Africa
that said, “War declared. Arrest all enemy aliens in your district.” This
prompt reply was received back in London, “Have arrested ten Germans,
six Belgians, four Frenchmen, two Italians, three Austrians, and one
American. Please advise immediately who we are at war with.”

When it comes to the pursuit and prosecution of war, you need to know
who and what you are up against. The enemy must be clearly identified
before he can be engaged. No fighting force wants to go blindly into battle
regarding the strength, weaponry, location, and tactics of the enemy. As
far back as six centuries before Christ, the famed Chinese general and
military mastermind Sun Tzu was teaching soldiers a simple strategy:
know your enemy. The Christian life is a call to arms, and what is true in
the field of military conquests is also true in the realm of spiritual warfare:
We need to know the enemy. According to the Bible, the Christian fights
on three fronts: against the world, the flesh, and the devil.

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you

present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is
your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be
transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is
that good and acceptable and perfect will of God (Rom. 12:1–2).

For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and
these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that
you wish (Gal. 5:17).

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 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a
roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8).

“Heavenly Father, I thank You for Your love and Your faithfulness. Thank You
for being faithful to me in the midst of the spiritual battle. I praise You for the
spiritual resources that You have given to me to overcome the world, the flesh
and the devil. Thank You for the victory Christ has won through His death on
the cross and resurrection from the grave. Help me to be sober and to know my
enemy, so that I may live a holy life and be pleasing to You. Grant me Your
strength this day through Your Spirit and through Your Word. In Jesus’s name,
amen.”

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 Day 5: The Beginning of the End

In looking upon the world and the emerging events of our day, the
Christian must take both a near and far look. We must simultaneously
live in the meantime with a view to the end time, and Jesus’s soon return.
In order to understand the events of our day we must view them from an
eternal perspective. We must look beyond the temporal world; we must
look up and away from our present and painful circumstances in the
anticipation of a coming Kingdom.

While the immediate news of the day often captures our attention with
all its alarm and horror, we must push past the depressing news of what
our world is going through and view in Christian hope what the world
will become when the Lord Jesus returns in power and glory to establish
a new Heaven and new Earth. The view of His return to Earth as King of
Kings and Lord of Lords must shape and reinterpret how we see the world
and the events of our day.

Therefore, we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is

perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our
light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more
exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things
which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which
are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal
(2 Cor. 4:16–18).

Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat
on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and
makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many
crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was

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 clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word
of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean,
followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword,
that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them
with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and
wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name
written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS (Rev. 19:11–16).

“Father, help me to have an eternal perspective on the events of our day and
the trials of this moment. Help me not to be overcome with a nearsighted
view of current events. I thank You that when Jesus returns to this earth that
there will be joy in every believer’s heart. Help me to live this day with my eyes
focused on that day when I shall see my Savior face to face. I thank You that in
the meantime, You are with me and have promised to strengthen me for the
struggles of this moment. In Jesus’s name I pray, amen.”

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 Day 6: Keep Calm and Carry On

Surely the success of this simple and straightforward slogan in our day
testifies to the fact that people still seek reassurance in a world riddled
with a heretofore unseen disease, widespread death, economic collapse,
job loss, personal tragedy, technological overload, natural disasters and
crime. The average person on the street wants to know how to keep calm
and carry on; they want to live without fear, to believe good will triumph
over evil, and to hope the best is yet to come. Today, we desperately need
to be calmed down.

To help us “Keep Calm and Carry On,” I want to turn our attention to
Psalm 46, which was written in a context of impending disaster and
national peril. And yet we see the people of Israel remain fearless; they
were able to remain calm and carry on, all because the Lord of Hosts
was with them and the God of Jacob was their refuge. In the face of great
anxiety, they put their trust in God and experienced the hush of Heaven
within their hearts. They were able to fortify their shivering souls against
wintry fear by taking refuge in God. They calmed down by looking up.

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. A Song for Alamoth.
God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. Therefore
we will not fear, Even though the earth be removed, And though the
mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though its waters roar
and be troubled, Though the mountains shake with its swelling. Selah

There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, The holy
place of the tabernacle of the Most High. God is in the midst of her, she
shall not be moved; God shall help her, just at the break of dawn. The
nations raged, the kingdoms were moved; He uttered His voice, the earth

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 melted. The Lord of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah

Come, behold the works of the Lord, Who has made desolations in the
earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and
cuts the spear in two; He burns the chariot in the fire. Be still, and know
that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the
earth! The Lord of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah
(Psalm 46:1–11).

“Father, I thank You that You are my refuge and strength, a very present help in
time of trouble. I thank You that even though the earth gives way, that You are
my fortress in the midst of the storm. I pray that I may experience the blessing of
the Psalmist—that I may be still and know that You are God. Help me to know
that in the midst of life’s storms, You are ruling and reigning over Your creation.
Give me the quiet calm of a sanctified heart. And grant me the strength to face
life’s troubles with faith and not with fear. I give You the glory for the great
things You have done. I pray this in Jesus’s name, amen.”

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 Day 7: Peace is Not the Absence of Danger
but the Presence of God

In bringing this prayer guide to a close, we are reminded that security

is not the absence of danger but the presence of God. God is a help in
trouble, not an escape from it. God is in life’s most difficult circumstances,
supplying the grace we need to overcome. And God tells us to be at peace
as we await the Prince of Peace.

The God who is sovereign over life stands by our side within life, giving us
a sense of peace in the face of death and danger. Since nothing threatens
God, nothing threatens the lives of those who make God their refuge and
take cover in the promise of His presence and protections (Psa. 46:1). The
Christian is immortal until God says otherwise.

Confidence is not to be found in the absence of danger but in the presence

of God. John Wesley was right: “Best of all, God is with us!”

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with

thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace
of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and
minds through Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6–7).

“Our Father in Heaven, I bless Your holy name. I boldly approach Your throne in
the confidence of Your grace. Thank You for Your constant presence and power.
I give my life fully to You and ask that You would glorify Yourself in my life. In
Jesus’s name, amen.”

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Philip De Courcy is the senior pastor of Kindred Community Church in
Anaheim Hills, California, and is featured on the daily radio program
Know The Truth. Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, he trusted Jesus Christ
as his personal Savior at age sixteen. Civil tension was commonplace, and
many of his friends became involved in acts of terrorism, so De Courcy
decided to serve as a part-time reserve police officer in the Royal Ulster
Constabulary in North Belfast. Although some of his comrades were
injured and even killed during that six-year period, he was unharmed, and
he is convinced that God used this faith-building season to prepare him
for pastoral ministry.

After receiving pastoral training, De Courcy spent six years shepherding

the congregation of Carr Baptist Church in a suburb of Belfast. In 1994, he
relocated his family to the United States, serving in churches in southern
California and central Ohio. Since 2007 he has been the senior pastor at
Kindred Community Church. Know The Truth was launched in March 2010
on three local radio stations in southern California. De Courcy and his
wife, June, have three grown daughters and one son-in-law.

Taken from Take Cover: Finding Peace in God’s Protection by Philip De

Courcy, copyright 2018. Salem Books, Washington, DC.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by
Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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