YOUR PROMISE OF

PROTECTION

The Power of the 91st Psalm

Gloria Copeland

Harrison House

Tulsa, Oklahoma

Your Promise of Protection: The Power of the 91st Psalm

ISBN 1-57794-483-6

KC-483-6

30-0546

Previously published as Build Yourself An Ark

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced

or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or

mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any

information storage and retrieval system, without the

written permission of the publisher. Printed in the United

States of America.

All scripture is from the King James Version unless otherwise

noted as the following:

The Amplified Bible, Old Testament copyright © 1965, 1987

by the Zondervan Corporation. The Amplified New

Testament copyright © 1958, 1987 by The Lockman

Foundation. Used by permission.

05 04 03 02 01 1098 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

© 2001 Kenneth Copeland Publications

Published by Harrison House, Inc.

P. O. Box 35035

Tulsa, Oklahoma 74153

CONTENTS

Psalm Ninety-One....................................................... 7

King James Version

Psalm Ninety-One........................... .........................11

The Amplified Bible

Chapter 1

What Are We Going to Do?. ...........................15

Chapter 2

Psalms 91:1

Keeping the Conditions. ..................................23

Chapter 3

Psalm 91:2

Say Something!. ...............................................29

Chapter 4

Psalm 91:3-4

The Fowler's Snare. .........................................33

Chapter 5

Psalm 91:5-8

Surrounded by Danger. ....................................35

Chapter 6

Psalm 91:9-10

Don't Forget to Do Your Part. ..........................39

Chapter 7

Psalm 91:11-12

Angels at Your Service. ...................................41

Chapter 8

Psalm 91:13

Facing the Lions. .............................................55

Chapter 9

Psalm 91:14-16

The Inward Witness. ........................................65

PSALM NINETY-ONE

King James Version

1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the

Most High shall abide under the shadow of the

Almighty.

2 I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and

my fortress: my God, in Him will I trust.

3 Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare

of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.

4 He shall cover thee with His feathers, and

under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall

be thy shield and buckler.

5 Thou shall not be afraid for the terror by

night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;

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Your Promise of Protection

6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in

darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at

noonday.

7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten

thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come

nigh thee.

8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and

see the reward of the wicked.

9 Because thou hast made the Lord, which is

my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;

10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither

shall any plague come nigh your dwelling.

11 For he. shall give his angels charge over

thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest

thou dash thy foot against a stone.

13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder:

the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample

under feet.

14 Because he hath set his love upon Me,

therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on

high, because he hath known my name.

8

Psalm Ninety-One

15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer

him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver

him, and honour him.

16 With long life will I satisfy him, and show

him My salvation.

9

PSALM NINETY-ONE

The Amplified Bible

1 He Who dwells in the secret place of the

Most High shall remain stable and fixed under

the shadow of the Almighty [Whose power no

foe can withstand].

2 I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and

my fortress, my God, on Him I lean and rely,

and in Him I (confidently) trust!

3 For [then] He will deliver you from the

snare of the fowler and from the deadly

pestilence. [Then]

4 He will cover you with His pinions and

under His wings shall you trust and find refuge;

His truth and His faithfulness are a shield and a

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Your Promise of Protection

buckler. [Then]

5 You shall not be afraid of the terror of the

night, nor of the arrow [the evil plots and

slanders of the wicked] that flies by day,

6 Nor of the pestilence that stalks in

darkness, nor of the destruction and sudden

death that surprise and lay waste at noonday.

[Then]

7 A thousand may fall at your side and ten

thousand at your right hand, but it shall not

come near you.

8 Only a spectator shall you be [yourself

inaccessible in the secret place of the Most

High] as you witness the reward of the wicked.

9 Because you have made the Lord your

refuge, and the Most High your dwelling place,

10 There shall no evil befall you, nor any

plague or calamity come near your tent.

11 For He will give His angels [especial]

charge over you, to accompany and defend and

preserve you in all your ways [of obedience and

service].

12

Psalm Ninety-One

12 They shall bear you up on their hands, lest

you dash your foot against a stone.

13 You shall tread upon the lion and adder,

the young lion and the serpent shall you trample

under foot.

14 Because he has set his love upon Me,

therefore will I deliver him; I will set him on

high, because he knows and understands My

name [has a personal knowledge of My mercy,

love and kindness; trusts and relies on Me,

knowing I will never forsake him, no, never].

15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer

him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver

him and honor him.

16 With long life will I satisfy him, and show

him My salvation.

13

Chapter 1

WHAT ARE WE GOING TO

1

DO?

God said to Noah...make yourself an ark.

(Genesis 6:13-14).

With all the violence and calamity bearing

down on us these days, that's a question you

hear a lot. What are we going to do about crime

in our streets? What are we going to do about

economic failures? What are we going to do

about international problems?

I'll tell you what we'd better do. We'd better

take a lesson from Noah. Look in Genesis 6 at

the Bible's description of the earth back in his

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Your Promise of Protection

day and you'll see why I say that.

The earth was depraved and putrid in

God's sight, and the land was filled with

violence (desecration, infringement,

outrage, assault, and lust for power). And

God looked upon the world and saw how

degenerate, debased and vicious it was; for

all humanity had corrupted their way upon

the earth and lost their true direction

(verses 11-12).

With a few exceptions that verse sounds like

a description of today's world, doesn't it?

What did God tell Noah to do about this

desperate situation? He said, "Noah, make

yourself an ark." That ark was to provide Noah's

deliverance from the destruction to come. It was

to keep him safe when the whole world was

perishing around him.

Start Building

I believe God is saying to us today, just like

He did to Noah, "Build yourself an ark." Not an

ark made of wood, but an ark made of the Word

16

What Are We Going to Do?

of God.

Do you realize that what you know from the

Word of God will save your life? That's right. If

you build God's promises of protection and

deliverance into your heart and life, you can live

in this crazy world with all of its danger and still

feel secure. You don't have to be frightened by

the things that are happening around you

because even in the worst of times, God has

proven He has the wonderful ability to deliver

His people from danger.

Notice I said His people. Today, as in

Noah's day, there are two groups of people on

the earth: God's people and the rest of the world.

There is the family of Satan and the family of

God.

Because God has already provided the gift

of salvation to all men, the people in the world

group constantly have the option to change

groups by accepting Jesus as Savior. ("For God

so loved the world, that he gave his only

begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him

should not perish, but have everlasting life,"

John 3:16.) But until they do, the world group

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Your Promise of Protection

won't enjoy the benefits that God's people have.

As a result, the lives of these two groups of

people can be strikingly different. They may be

living in the same city, even in the same family.

Yet one of them will have a covenant with God

and one of them will not. One group will live in

safety while the other group must submit to the

dangers of the world on their own.

"It shall be well with him [the righteous]..."

but "Woe unto the wicked! It shall be ill with

him..." (Isaiah 3:10-11). You may hear

somebody prophesying about how bad things

are going to become on the earth. Then you may

hear someone else prophesy about the power

and blessings that lie ahead of us. Both

prophecies may be accurate. But the first is

speaking to the people of the world and the

second is speaking to the people of God.

Noah was a wonderful example of just how

capable God is of protecting His people in the

midst of a corrupt and crumbling civilization.

The whole world went down around him, but

the eight people in his family remained perfectly

18

What Are We Going to Do?

safe.

Some people say, "Oh yes, I know that I am

eternally safe. I know that because I am born

again, I'll go to heaven when I die."

But I'm not just talking about heavenly

security. I am telling you that you can have

physical security, financial security and every

other kind of security you need to live in victory

right here on this earth.

Loaded with Benefits!

You see, salvation includes more than just

the guarantee of going to heaven in the sweet

by-and-by. That's just the beginning. Salvation

is a big word. In the Greek language it literally

means deliverance, safety, preservation, material

and temporal deliverance from danger and

apprehension, pardon, restoration, healing,

wholeness and soundness.

If I were to use just one word, I would say

salvation is soundness in every area of your life.

It includes healing for your body, peace for your

mind, righteousness for your spirit, physical and

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Your Promise of Protection

spiritual protection, prosperity and financial

blessing.

I like what Psalm 68:19-20 says:

Blessed be the Lord, Who bears our

burdens and carries us day by day. Even the

God Who is our salvation!... God is to us a

God of deliverances and salvation; and to

God, the Lord, belongs escape from death

[setting us free].

That same scripture in the King James

Version says, "Blessed be the Lord, who daily

loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our

salvation...." Just think about that. Every day

God loads us with the benefits of salvation! He

loads us with forgiveness, healing, safety,

security, prosperity and deliverance from

danger.

It's Not Automatic

Now you may be wondering, If safety and

security and healing and deliverance are all part

of my salvation, why haven't I been

experiencing all these things?

20

What Are We Going to Do?

Because they don't come automatically.

They are manifested in your life only as you

begin to trust God for them specifically.

Let me explain what I mean. Remember

when you were born again? You discovered that

God's Word promised if you would repent and

confess Jesus as your Lord, you would be

forgiven of your sins and translated from the

kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God's

Son (Colossians 1:13). So you believed, obeyed,

accepted Jesus as Savior and, sure enough, you

were instantly saved. But that didn't heal you

from the flu, did it?

No, before you could be healed from the flu,

you had to hear God's Word about healing. You

had to learn that Jesus bore your sicknesses and

carried your diseases. Until you began to believe

for healing, until you trusted God for it

specifically and stood in faith for it, you didn't

walk in divine health.

That's true about anything. Until you find

out what actually belongs to you through the

blood of Jesus, you can't lay hold of it by faith

and see it happen in your life. That's why it's so

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Your Promise of Protection

important for you to know God's promises of

protection. You receive blessings by faith—and

faith comes by hearing the Word. You can't

have faith for something you don't know about.

If someone were to deposit a million dollars

in an account with your name on it but didn't

bother to tell you about it, you'd never be able to

enjoy it, would you? It would belong to you but

you wouldn't know to withdraw it. So it would

sit in the bank unused. That's the sad situation

so many believers are in today when it comes to

the mighty benefits of salvation through Jesus

the Anointed One.

22

Chapter 2

Psalms 91:1

KEEPING THE CONDITIONS

2

He who dwells in the secret place of the

Most High shall remain stable and fixed

under the shadow of the Almighty [Whose

power no foe can withstand]. (Psalms 91:1).

Once you know from God's Word that

divine protection belongs to you, there are some

conditions you must keep to activate that

protection in your life. The Word of God makes

these conditions very clear.

You can find the first one at the beginning

of Psalm 91,

He who abides in the secret place of the

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Your Promise of Protection

Most High shall remain fixed under the

shadow of the Almighty.

If you are to enjoy God's protection, you're

going to have to abide in Him. To abide means

to dwell in. It is a word that implies not a

temporary situation but a permanent dwelling

place—the place where you make your home. It

doesn't indicate a coming in and going out but a

continual dwelling under God's shadow.

What does it take to become an abider?

Putting God's Word in your heart, for one thing.

In John 15:7, Jesus said, "If you live in Me—

abide vitally united to Me—and My words

remain in you and continue to live in your

hearts, ask whatever you will and it shall be

done for you."

The truth that is alive in your heart is the

truth that you act on every day. It doesn't come

from simply reading a scripture once, shouting

hallelujah, and going on. It comes from knowing

the Word so well that it comes to your thinking

instantly in a crisis situation. Truth comes alive

in you when you think about it, meditate on it

24

Keeping the Conditions

and apply it to your life, so at the moment of

danger, the Word of God is your first thought.

Abiding under the shadow of the Almighty

is the result of spending so much time in the

Word of God and in His presence that His truth

governs your actions without even a conscious

thought. If you want to be an abider, you can't

afford to simply get into the Word for a while

and then quit. You need to be consistent. Stay in

the Word day after day after day. Take the 91st

Psalm into yourself daily until it becomes

engrafted in your heart.

Remember this: it's the Word you act on

today that will get you delivered. It's not what

you heard last year. It isn't even what you know.

It's what you do. Keep yourself full of God's

Word and you will do it.

If that sounds like a tall order to you, let me

promise you something. For every minute you

invest in the Word of God you'll get back a

hundredfold in health, faith and deliverance.

You'll never regret a second of it.

Disobedience Is Dangerous

25

Your Promise of Protection

Another definition of abiding is simply

obeying. First John 3:6 says, "Whosoever

abideth in Him sinneth not." The reverse of that

is also true—whoever sins (or is disobedient)

does not abide in Him.

If you'll look at the first chapter of Proverbs,

you'll see just how dangerous disobedience can

be. You will see why, when most people need

supernatural protection, it isn't there for them.

Beginning in verse 23, God says:

If you will turn (repent) and give heed

to my reproof, behold, I [Wisdom], will

pour out my spirit upon you, I will make My

words known to you.

Because I have called and you refused

[to answer], have stretched out my hand

and no man heeded it, But you have treated

as nothing all my counsel, and would accept

none of my reproof, I also will laugh at your

calamity; I will mock when the thing comes

that shall cause you terror and panic

(verses 23-26)...

Then will they call upon me [Wisdom],

26

Keeping the Conditions

but I will not answer; they will seek me

early and diligently, but they will not find

me. Because they hated knowledge, and did

not choose the reverent and worshipful fear

of the Lord.... (verses 28-29)

But whoso hearkens to me [Wisdom],

shall dwell securely and in confident trust,

and shall be quiet without fear or dread of

evil (verse 33).

Thank God, we're living in the day of grace

and mercy and it's never too late to call upon the

Lord. But I am going to tell you this: If you

haven't been abiding in the Word (God's wisdom

revealed to us), it's going to be difficult for you

to call on Him in faith when calamity comes. If

you've been living every day by the world's

standards, at the moment of crisis it will be hard

for you to take your dependence off the world

and put it on Him.

So what you need to do is start abiding in

the Word of God now! If you don't, it will

eventually cost you more than you want to pay.

Because they hated knowledge, and did

not choose the reverent and worshipful fear

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Your Promise of Protection

of the Lord, would have none of my counsel,

and despised all my reproof, Therefore shall

they eat the fruit of their own way and be

satiated with their own devices. (Proverbs

1:29,31).

In other words, if you're going to live like

the world, your outcome is going to be like that

of the world. " But whoso hearkens to Me

[Wisdom], shall dwell securely and in confident

trust and shall be quiet without fear or dread of

evil" (Proverbs 1:33). Now that's the kind of

supernatural protection promised to those who

abide.

28

Chapter 3

Psalm 91:2

SAY SOMETHING!

3

I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge

and my fortress, my God, on Him I lean

and rely, and in Him I (confidently)

trust! (Psalm 91:2).

I will say! There's something else important

about the person who lives in the protective

shadow of the Almighty. He speaks in faith. He

says of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my

fortress; my God, on Him I lean and rely, and in

Him I (confidently) trust!"

This man is doing more than just trusting

God with his heart, he's saying it with his

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Your Promise of Protection

mouth! That's what you need to be doing too.

You see, faith brings God's supernatural power

into this natural realm. And faith is released into

this natural realm by words. So you need to be

saying, "God is my refuge. He is my fortress. I

trust in Him!"

I can't count the times I've said those words.

I've meditated on the 91st Psalm and said it so

often that at any moment of danger, that is what

springs up inside me. When I run into trouble,

my mouth doesn't say, "I'm scared to death." My

mouth says, "The Lord is my refuge. He shall

deliver me!"

Make up your mind right now to get your

mouth in line with God's Word. Do you know

what will happen if you do? You'll be able to go

to sleep at night. You won't lie there in worry or

fear. Instead, you'll trust God with every part of

your life. And no matter what circumstance

you're in, you'll be able to just turn over and go

to sleep. The Bible says God gives His beloved

sleep (Psalm 127:2).

One night, years ago, Ken and I were

30

Say Something!

spending the night in an Israeli kibbutz. It was

located very close to the border where enemy

raids were frequent—and often deadly. I had

thoughts that we might be in danger.

So what did I do? I said of the Lord, "He is

my refuge and my fortress. I trust Him with my

life." Then I turned over and went to sleep.

You can do the same thing. You meditate on

this verse long enough and speak it out often

enough and you'll be able to go right to sleep

wherever you are. You can sleep by faith!

31

Chapter 4

Psalm 91:3-4

THE FOWLER'S SNARE

4

For [then] He will deliver you from the

snare of the fowler and from the deadly

pestilence. [Then] He will cover you with

His pinions and under His wings shall you

trust and find refuge; His truth and His

faithfulness are a shield and a buckler.

(Psalm 91:3-4).

Once you "say" until you have that kind of

peace on the inside, you can be assured you'll

have supernatural protection on the outside. You

can be sure God will "deliver you from the

snare of the fowler and from the noisome

pestilence" (Psalm 91:3).

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What's the snare of the fowler? The traps

laid by the devil to cause you harm. (One friend

of ours says the devil is the fowler because he

comes along and tries to foul things up!) And

The. Amplified Bible defines pestilence as

"...plagues; malignant and contagious or

infectious epidemic diseases which are deadly

and devastating" (Luke 2:11). Doesn't that

sound like AIDS or cancer?

I like the 91st Psalm because it's always so

up-to-date. No matter what kind of "new"

threats the devil comes up with, the 91st Psalm

promises deliverance from them. Epidemic

diseases, nuclear weapons, chemical warfare—

read Psalm 91 closely and you'll see it covers

every one of them.

34

Chapter 5

Psalm 91:5-8

SURROUNDED BY DANGER

5

You shall not be afraid of the terror of the

night, nor of the arrow [the evil plots and

slanders of the wicked] that flies by day, nor

of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor

of the destruction and sudden death that

surprise and lay waste at noonday. [Then] a

thousand may fall at your side, and ten

thousand at your right hand, but it shall not

come near you. Only a spectator shall you

be [yourself inaccessible in the secret place

of the Most High] as you witness the reward

of the wicked. (Psalm 91:5-8).

We live in a century with weapons that can

35

Your Promise of Protection

quite literally kill thousands of people at once.

Chemical weapons or nuclear warfare can

destroy whole cities. But despite the magnitude

of the disaster, God has promised we can stand

in the midst of it untouched!

Notice I said, in the midst of it! Clearly,

when God says a "thousand may fall at your

side," He's not talking about heaven. He's

talking about a place here on earth where you're

seeing some disastrous things happen to the

wicked all around you, and yet you are totally

protected. You are covered by an invisible

shield. You are in that secret place that the

world knows nothing about. When you're in that

place, it doesn't matter how terrible your

situation might be, you can make it through in

safety. (See Psalm 5:11-12; Psalm 27:5, The

Amplified Bible. Put these scriptures in your

mouth!)

Ken and I have a friend who proved that

beyond any doubt. He took the 91st Psalm into

battle with him when he was in Vietnam years

ago. He broke it down verse by verse and

applied it to his specific situation.

36

Surrounded by Danger

To him, “the arrow that flies by day”

mentioned in verse 5 meant the bullets of the

enemy. So he would say, "I shall not be afraid of

the terror of the night nor of the bullets of the

enemy." “The pestilence that stalks in

darkness” and the destruction and sudden death

that surprise and lay waste at noonday meant the

Viet Cong and the deadly booby traps they had

set.

And when he read that “a thousand may fall

at your side, and ten thousand at your right

hand, but it shall not come near you” he knew

he would be protected even in open combat. So

he would agree and say, "I'll only observe these

things, I won't be a victim of them."

Do you know he came through that war

untouched? He had been in the midst of heavy

fighting, in some of the most dangerous places

in Vietnam, yet he believed God for his

deliverance and walked away unharmed.

How could that happen? Look again at

Psalm 91:4, "He will cover you with His pinions

and under His wings shall you trust and find

refuge; His truth and His faithfulness are a

37

Your Promise of Protection

shield and buckler."

Our friend was hidden from the enemy. God

covered him up like a mother eagle covers her

babies by spreading her feathers over them. The

devil couldn't get to him because God's truth and

faithfulness were the shield and buckler which

kept the enemy at bay.

38

Chapter 6

Psalm 91:9-10

DON'T FORGET TO DO YOUR

6

PART

Because you have made the Lord your

refuge, and the Most High your dwelling

place, There shall no evil befall you, nor

any plague or calamity come near your tent.

(Psalm 91:9-10).

No doubt, by now you're getting pretty

excited about God's protection. But before we

go on, I want to remind you once more—

receiving that protection is conditional. You

have to know what God has said before that

shield and buckler will work for you. You have

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to hear it from God's Word and receive it for

yourself saying, "That's mine. Deliverance from

God belongs to me!"

Look again at the first part of verse 9:

"Because you have made the Lord your refuge

and the most High your dwelling place." I have

that first word, because, circled in my Bible.

This verse tells you how to position yourself in

the secret place. It says because you have made

the Lord your refuge by obeying verses 1 and 2,

you can count on Him do His part by rescuing

you from danger. Notice verse 3 in The

Amplified Bible starts "for then He will deliver

you..."

When you think of Psalm 91, remember

this: the first two verses are what we do and say.

Verses 2-15 are God's answer and commitment

to us. When we do our part—saying and trusting

—God does His part—delivering and

preserving.

40

Chapter 7

Psalm 91:11-12

ANGELS AT YOUR SERVICE

7

For He will give His angels [especial]

charge over you, to accompany and defend

and preserve you in all your ways [of

obedience and service]. They shall bear you

up on their hands, lest you dash your foot

against a stone. (Psalm 91:11-12).

One of the ways God carries out your

deliverance is through angels. You literally have

angels at your service. Did you know that? The

Bible teaches that they're sent to serve you and

keep you safe as you carry out God's will in

your life. Hebrews 1:14 says, "Are not the

angels all (servants) ministering spirits, sent out

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Your Promise of Protection

in the service [of God for the assistance] of

those who are to inherit salvation?"

The angel of the Lord encamps round about

those who fear God, to deliver them (Psalm 34).

Your angels just set up camp wherever you are.

When you move, they move. When you go to

town, they go to town. When you go to the

grocery store, they go to the grocery store.

When you go to war, they go to war.

In 2 Kings 6 you can find a picture of how

angels operate. Elisha, the prophet of God, had

received inside information from God on the

strategy of enemy nations. He'd passed that

information along to the king of Israel so Israel

was never caught off guard in any military

maneuver.

When the enemy king realized that

information was leaking to Israel he assumed

they had a spy in their camp.

"Who is telling the king of Israel our

military secrets?" he demanded.

His servant answered, "None of us, my lord

O king. But that prophet Elisha knows what we

42

Angels at Your Service

say in our bed chambers" (see 2 Kings 6:11-12).

So the enemy king and his entire army took

off in pursuit of one man! They surrounded the

city where Elisha was staying and "when the

servant of the man of God was risen early, and

gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city

both with horses and chariots..." (verse 15).

Elisha's servant panicked. A whole army

against the two of them looked like very bad

odds. "Master, what are we going to do?" he

cried.

"Fear not," Elisha told him, "for they that

be with us are more than they that be with

them" (verse 16).

Don't you know that servant was counting?

One, two! There are two of us and scores of

them. Elisha must be losing his mind. But Elisha

wasn't looking at the natural realm. He was

seeing in the spirit realm.

Elisha prayed, "Lord, open his eyes that he

may see." Notice he didn't say, "Lord, protect

me." He didn't need to ask for protection, he

knew it was there.

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Your Promise of Protection

"...And the Lord opened the eyes of the

young man; and he saw: and, behold, the

mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire

round about Elisha" (verse 17). The mountain

was full of protection for Elisha! God had sent

battalions of angels to protect Elisha. I'm sure

the extra angels had arrived before the enemy

army ever got there. I say "extra" because we

have angels surrounding us all the time and

those regulars can quickly be reinforced.

Fear Not!

Before we leave this account about Elisha, I

want you to pay special attention to the answer

he gave his frightened servant in verse 16.

"Fear not." Those were the first words Elisha

spoke.

What is the very first thing you're to do in

trouble? Fear not. If you fear, you open the

door to the devil. If you trust God, you open the

door to God.

Over and over in the Bible God exhorts us

not to fear. Psalms 91:5 begins, "You shall not

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Angels at Your Service

be afraid..." When angels would appear to

people, "Fear not!" were usually the first words

out of their mouths. That's because fear and

faith don't mix. Fear and faith cannot come out

of you at the same time.

When you start saying things that are out of

line with the Word of God, when you start

speaking in fear instead of in faith, you bind the

hands of your angels. You prevent them from

doing their job. Psalms 103:20-21 tells us why:

Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel

in strength, that do his commandments,

hearkening unto the voice of his word. Bless

ye the Lord, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of

his, that do his pleasure.

Angels hearken to the voice of God's Word.

They respond to the Word! So when your heart

is full of faith and your mouth is saying, "A

thousand may fall at my side, ten thousand at

my right hand but it will not come near me,"

they put that Word into action and protect you.

But when your heart is full of fear and your

mouth is speaking words of unbelief, your

angels can only stand by helplessly. It's not that

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Your Promise of Protection

they abandon you, it's just that they have

nothing to act on.

Never ever underestimate the power of your

words. Scripture teaches us that God speaks of

things that are not as though they were (see

Romans 4:17). That's how He creates—He

speaks things into existence.

Whether you realize it or not, you do the

same thing. When you speak words by faith

according to the Word of God, you are opening

the door for God's protection and blessing.

When you speak words in fear that are contrary

to the Word, you are opening the door for the

devil to bring you destruction.

I know these are dangerous days. Almost

every day on the news we hear about innocent

people who are shot just standing on the street

corner, or sitting in a restaurant. (Flying arrows

aren't doing much damage these days, but

bullets can be pretty deadly!) But when you

have the Word of God alive inside of you, you

don't have to worry about the unexpected. God

is never caught by surprise.

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Angels at Your Service

So put away fear. Rebuke it out of your life.

Talk to it as if it were a snake. Say, "Fear, in the

Name of Jesus, I command you to be gone!"

Then put it under your feet. Stomp it out of your

life. If it rears its head again, rid yourself of it as

swiftly as you would a rattlesnake.

Get your heart established on God's Word

and your mouth full of faith. Keep your angels

on the job. You never know when you're going

to need them!

Out of the Fire

One of the most exciting scriptural

examples of God's angelic delivering power is

found in Daniel 3. There we see three of God's

people in big trouble with the government. The

king of the Babylonian empire had made an

image and declared that "...Whoso falleth not

down and worshippeth (that image) should be

cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace"

(verse 11).

Now, these three men of God—Shadrach,

Meshach and Abednego—happened to be on the

king's own staff. They were Hebrews who had

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Your Promise of Protection

been captured but God's blessing was upon them

to such a degree they had been given great

responsibility over the affairs of Babylon. They

served and trusted God. So despite the king's

decree, they refused to bow down to that image.

As we read this story, I want you to notice

that these three men fit the pattern of the man

described in Psalm 91. They were faithful to

God. They abided in Him. And when they were

faced with danger, instead of crying and

whining about it, they spoke words of faith.

When the king threatened to throw them in

the fiery furnace for refusing to bow down to his

idol, they said:

If it be so our God whom we serve is

able to deliver us from the burning fiery

furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine

hand, O king. But if not be it known unto

thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods,

nor worship the golden image which thou

hast set up (verses 17-18).

In other words, they refused to bow and

they refused to be afraid. They said, "Our God is

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Angels at Your Service

able to deliver us!"

That made the king so angry he had that

furnace heated up seven times hotter than usual.

The heat was so intense that the guards who

threw Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego into

the furnace were killed instantly.

And these three men, Shadrach,

Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound

into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

Then...the king was astonished, and rose up

in haste, and spake, and said unto his

counselors, Did not we cast three men

bound into the midst of the fire?...Lo, I see

four men loose, walking in the midst of the

fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of

the fourth is like the Son of God (verses 23-

25).

Why didn't Shadrach, Meshach and

Abednego burn? It certainly wasn't because the

fire had no power. It had power all right. It had

enough power to kill the mighty men in the

king's army who threw them into it. It just had

no power over the bodies of God's men. In fact,

the Bible tells us that not even a "...hair of their

head (was) singed, neither were their coats

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changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on

them" (verse 27).

What's more, God sent His angel into the

fire to watch over them while they were there.

Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said,

Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach,

and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and

delivered his servants that trusted in him,

and have changed the king's word, and

yielded their bodies, that they might not

serve nor worship any god, except their own

God. Therefore I make a decree, That every

people, nation, and language, which speak

any thing amiss against the God of

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego shall be

cut in pieces, and their houses shall be

made a dunghill: because there is no other

God that can deliver after this sort. Then the

king promoted Shadrach, Meshach and

Abednego in the province of Babylon

(Daniel 3:28-30).

Isn't' that a great testimony of God's

delivering power?! When Shadrach, Meshach

and Abednego's enemies tried to get rid of them,

these three servants of God were promoted

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Angels at Your Service

instead! They made the Lord their refuge. Their

trust was in Him. He was their deliverer and

they never stopped saying so. They refused to

compromise or give in to the intimidation of the

enemy. They did not bow and they did not burn!

The Secret Place

I've always loved the story of Shadrach,

Meshach and Abednego. But for years, I

wondered exactly how they could come through

a fire like that without even smelling like

smoke. Then one day I was reading Psalm 27

and I found out.

The Lord is my light and my salvation;

whom shall I fear or dread? The Lord is the

refuge and stronghold of my life; of whom

shall I be afraid?... For in the day of trouble

He will hide me in His shelter; in the secret

place of His tent will He hide me; He will

set me high upon a rock (verses 1,5).

When Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego

went into that fiery furnace, the presence of God

settled upon them like a bubble. It surrounded

them. It covered them. They didn't get hot. They

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Your Promise of Protection

didn't get scorched. The power of God was their

deliverance. It hid them in the secret place.

But here's what is so exciting. That secret

place isn't reserved just for Shadrach, Meshach

and Abednego. It isn't reserved only for people

who lived thousands of years ago when the

Bible was being written.

No! God says anyone who abides in Him

can dwell in that secret place. It's for anyone

who has the faith to say, "In the secret place of

His tent will God hide me; He will set me high

upon a rock." It's for anyone who can say like

these three Israelites did, "You don't have to

worry about us, king. Our God is able to deliver

us and what's more, He will!"

Do you understand that God is not limited?

He can do anything it takes to make you safe.

He can cover you with His presence in the midst

of chemical warfare, nuclear warfare or

anything else the devil can produce. He can

bring you through without a scratch.

The only thing that will limit God in your

life is unbelief and fear. So determine now to

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Angels at Your Service

believe God's Word and trust in Him for your

safety and protection. You might think, "Yes,

Gloria, that's easy for you to say. You don't live

in the neighborhood I do."

Listen, your neighborhood might be bad—

but it's still not as bad as Shadrach, Meshach

and Abednego's neighborhood. No one is trying

to put you into a fiery furnace. And even if they

did, God has already proven He can get you out!

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Chapter 8

Psalm 91:13

FACING THE LIONS

8

You shall tread upon the lion and the adder,

the young lion and the serpent shall you

trample under foot. (Psalm 91:13).

Daniel is a good example of someone who

stayed ready. And because he did, the plans his

enemies devised for his death failed miserably.

Daniel was a contemporary of Shadrach,

Meshach and Abednego. He was a member of

the royal staff of Babylon just like they were. In

fact, Daniel was one of three presidents of the

empire, second only to the king himself.

Daniel had so much influence that other

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presidents and princes became jealous of his

position and began to look for ways to get him

removed. But the Bible says no matter how hard

they looked, "...they could find none occasion

nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful..." (see

Daniel 6:4).

Daniel was faithful. He was faithful in his

service to the king and he was faithful to God.

Finally the officials who were trying to get

Daniel fired realized the only way they were

ever going to get him was to put him in a corner

by forcing him to choose between God and the

king.

So that's what they did. They suggested the

king pass a law that forbade anyone from

making petition (or praying) to anyone other

than the king himself for 30 days. Anyone who

broke the law would be thrown into a den of

lions.

Their suggestion appealed to the king's ego

so much that he signed the law on the spot,

without even thinking what it would mean to his

trusted administrator Daniel.

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Facing the Lions

Now when Daniel knew that the writing

was signed, he went into his house, and his

windows being open in his chamber toward

Jerusalem, he got down upon his knees

three times a day and prayed and gave

thanks before his God, as he had done

previously (Daniel 6:10).

Daniel knew about the king's new law. But

he wouldn't compromise. He didn't even choose

to switch to silent prayer. He simply kept

praying just the way he always had.

When the others reported to the king what

Daniel had done, the king was grieved. He

trusted Daniel and respected him. He didn't want

to throw him to the lions but he had been tricked

by his staff. He had trapped himself by his own

decree and he couldn't change his mind. So,

"...The king commanded, and Daniel was

brought and cast into the den of lions. The king

said to Daniel, May your God, Whom you are

serving continually, deliver you!" (see Daniel

6:16).

Notice what the king said. He said Daniel

served God continually. Remember what we

learned about abiding? It means to dwell

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continually in a place. Daniel was an abider! He

was faithful. He stayed constantly in the

presence and service of God. That was his

ongoing state of mind, his natural habitat.

Let's look at what happened to this abider:

And a stone was brought and laid upon

the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it

with his own signet... Then the king went to

his palace and passed the night fasting;

neither were instruments of music or

dancing girls brought before him, and sleep

fled from him. Then the king arose very

early in the morning and went in haste to

the den of lions. And when he came to the

den and to Daniel, he cried out in a voice of

anguish... O Daniel, servant of the living

God, is your God Whom you serve

continually able to deliver you from the

lions? Then Daniel said to the king, O king,

live for ever! My God has sent His angel

and has shut the lions' mouths so that they

have not hurt me... Then the king was

exceedingly glad, and commanded that

Daniel should be taken up out of the den....

and no hurt of any kind was found on him,

because he believed... in his God (Daniel

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Facing the Lions

6:17-23).

Daniel's deliverance wasn't some kind of

one-time thing God did just because He liked

Daniel better than most other people. It wasn't

just something God did so He'd have an

interesting story to put in the Bible. God

delivered Daniel because He always delivers

those who abide in Him in faith.

You can trust God with your life. He'll do

the same thing for you He did for Daniel if—I

said if— you abide in Him in faith...trusting,

expecting and confessing His delivering power.

Supernatural Trouble-Shooters

Some people seem to think angels aren't

around much anymore. But they are! They were

present throughout the Old Testament—and

they haven't gone on vacation since then. If you

want a New Testament example of their

activities, read Acts 12. It tells of a very

dangerous time in the history of the early

Church. Peter had been arrested.

Peter therefore was kept in prison; but

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prayer was made without ceasing of the

church unto God for him. And when Herod

would have brought him forth, the same

night Peter was sleeping between two

soldiers, bound with two chains: and the

keepers before the door kept the prison.

(verse 5-6).

It sounds like Peter was in a maximum

security situation, doesn't it? In the natural, there

was no possibility of escape. But God's people

were praying and believing God for his

protection and—

And, behold, the angel of the Lord

came upon him, and a light shined in the

prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and

raised him up, saying, Arise quickly. And

his chains fell off from his hands. (verse 7).

That's the wonderful thing about God's

protection. You could hire a hundred natural

men to protect you, but they'd be limited by

natural things. When you're dealing with angels,

you're dealing with the supernatural.

That angel didn't have to have a key made.

When he showed up the chains that bound Peter

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just fell off. (If you'll read the rest of the

chapter, you'll find it was easier for Peter to get

out of prison than to get into the prayer

meeting!)

I want you to notice something else about

this situation. Peter wasn't staying up moaning

and groaning about being executed. He was

sound asleep. In fact, he was sleeping so

soundly that the angel had to hit him to wake

him up.

And the angel said unto him, Gird

thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And so he

did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy

garment about thee, and follow me. And he

went out, and followed him; and wist not

that it was true which was done by the

angel; but thought he saw a vision. When

they were past the first and second ward,

they came unto the iron gate that leadeth

unto the city; which opened to them of his

own accord: and they went out and passed

on through one street; and forthwith the

angel departed from him (verses 8-10).

The angel of God just took Peter out of

prison. He had no problems with guards, chains,

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keys or city gates... he simply woke Peter up,

got him out and sent him home.

I could tell you story after story where

angels have intervened to alter drastically the

outcome of situations, both in the Bible and in

our day as well. Some time ago, for example,

one of our ministry employees was riding to

work on his motorcycle when suddenly a big

truck pulled across the road right in front of

him. It happened so quickly there was nothing

he could do. He didn't have time to think. He

didn't have time to speak—he didn't have time to

do anything.

Many times that's how things happen.

Without warning, suddenly trouble is upon you.

It doesn't tell you it's coming in advance so

you'll have time to fast and pray. You have to be

ready. You have to live every day believing

God. You have to say continually, "The Lord is

my refuge and my fortress." Because at those

moments, you don't have time to say it.

That's how it was with that fellow on the

motorcycle. All of a sudden there was a truck in

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front of him.

That's the last thing he remembered. He saw

the truck and everything went blank. The next

thing he knew he was walking around on the

side of the road. A few yards away, his

motorcycle lay underneath the truck.

A girl who was driving right behind, him

saw the whole thing. She said when the

motorcycle slid under the truck, the man who

was riding it went up in the air, did a flip and

landed safely on his feet by a fence nearby. His

only injury was a scratch on the arm.

I can't imagine anything that could make

that happen except angels. But here's the point.

That fellow was ready. He didn't have time to

grab his Bible and brush up on the 91st Psalm.

He was already prepared.

That's how it has to be. You can't wait until

the last minute and start memorizing scripture

when disaster strikes. You need to "say of the

Lord" now. You need to stay ready.

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Chapter 9

Psalm 91:14-16

THE INWARD WITNESS

9

Because he has set his love upon Me,

therefore will I deliver him; I will set him on

high, because he knows and understands My

name [has a personal knowledge of My

mercy, love and kindness; trusts and relies

on Me, knowing I will never forsake him,

no, never]. 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 will I satisfy him, and show

him My salvation. (Psalm 91:14-16).

Once you start operating in faith, trusting

God to protect and defend you in every

situation, something is going to start happening

to you. Something you may never have

perceived before. You are going to start hearing

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some directions from the Holy Spirit.

Sometimes those directions won't seem very

spiritual. For example, you may be heading out

the door to go grocery shopping, and suddenly,

from inside you will come the thought, "Don't

go to the store the way you usually go, take a

different route. Go this way." Or, "Don't go to

that store, go to another one."

Why would God say something like that?

Maybe because He knows the store you usually

go to is about to be robbed, and you would be in

danger if you went there. That thought,

impression or prompting is the inward witness.

It is the Holy Spirit speaking to your spirit for

your protection.

Remember the devastating earthquake that

struck San Francisco in 1990? A close friend of

mine, Billye Brim, told me about a friend of

hers whose son was working there the day the

earthquake hit.

That afternoon he was in his office, as

usual, when the thought came to him that he

should leave the office early and head for his

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The Inward Witness

home in Oakland. The World Series was being

played in a stadium nearby and he didn't want to

be caught in the traffic on the freeway when the

game ended. It just seemed like a natural

thought.

He yielded to that impression and left work

early that day. If he hadn't, he would have been

on that freeway when it collapsed during the

earthquake.

The Bible says God speaks in a still, small

voice. He doesn't shout directions at you. He

gives you impressions, thoughts, promptings and

gentle urgings. You have to learn to be sensitive

to them.

You also need to be pliable and ready to

change your plans when something comes to

you from your spirit that seems good. It just

might save your life.

How do you become aware of that inward

witness? It doesn't happen automatically. It

comes by spending time with God. It comes

when you listen for it in faith, expecting God to

guide you.

You have to learn to listen. God may tell

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you not to take your normal route home in order

to save you from a traffic accident. He may tell

you not to get on a plane you're scheduled to

take. I've heard of several incidents when

someone received a distinct impression not to

get on an airplane and, sure enough, that

airplane crashed. Then again I've had that

thought before I boarded a plain and perceived it

was just a natural thought. When you endeavor

to follow God moment by moment, day by day,

you'll know the difference.

While we are on the subject, Ken and I

hijack every commercial plane we ride. As we

walk toward the plane we say, "We take

authority over this plane in the Name of Jesus.

Satan, we bind your power in the Name of

Jesus. You'll not touch the equipment, crew or

passengers in any way. Ministering spirits

(angels) you go before us and clear our way in

Jesus Name."

Usually I'll pray a day or two ahead for the

Lord to prepare the crew, equipment and

passengers for us and believe for a hassle free

trip with no delays or bad weather.

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The Inward Witness

No matter how simple the instruction from

God may be, pay attention to it. Be quick to

listen and to hear. The Holy Spirit's job is to

warn you of things to come and to minister

grace and favor to you every day. Learn to listen

to Him!

It's Going to Take Time

I don't want to scare you, but I do want to be

honest with you. In the days ahead you're going

to see a great deal of trouble in the world around

you. Things on this earth are going to get worse,

just like they did in Noah's day. The darkness

will get darker and the light will get brighter.

Jesus Himself compared this end-time age

to that generation. He said:

But as the days of Noe were, so shall

also the coming of the Son of man be. For

as in the days that were before the flood

they were eating and drinking, marrying

and giving in marriage, until the day that

Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until

the flood came, and took them all away...

(Matthew 24:37-39).

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There's something we need to learn from

Noah. It is this: Don't wait until trouble hits to

start building your ark, because you want to

have it finished before trouble comes.

It took Noah many, many years to build his

ark. Think about that! There he was, out in the

middle of nowhere, building this big ship with

no water in sight. Don't you know his neighbors

laughed at him? After all they had never even

seen rain.

"Crazy old Noah!" they must have said.

"Crazy old Noah and his boys talk about God

delivering them from the flood that's coming.

They don't know what they're talking about!"

You know, people made fun of Noah and

his family all those years and the scriptures say

they did not know or understand until the day

the flood came and swept them away. They

were in the dark. But when the flood came,

NOAH WASN'T IN THE DARK—HE WAS IN

THE ARK! He knew exactly what God was

going to do and he was prepared.

Today, I am saying to you the same thing

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God said to Noah. "There's a flood coming.

Build yourself an ark!" Build it with the 91st

Psalm. Build it with scriptures about your

deliverance. Build it by abiding in the Almighty

God. Build it by saying with your mouth, "I will

say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my

fortress: my God; in Him will I trust."

Don't wait until the flood comes and sweeps

you away. Start now. Meditate on God's Word

of deliverance. Read it. Go over it every day

until it is so deeply rooted in your heart that it

comes flowing out at the first sign of trouble.

Carry this little book around with you until you

get so filled with this truth that your heart

carries it for you.

Don't be in the dark. Be in the ark. Build

yourself an ark—today!

71

PRAYER FOR SALVATION AND

BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT

Heavenly Father, I come to You in the

Name of Jesus. Your Word says, "Whosoever

shall call on the name of the Lord shall be

saved" (Acts 2:21). I am calling on You. I pray

and ask Jesus to come into my heart and be Lord

over my life according to Romans 10:9-10. "If

thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord

Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God

hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be

saved. For with the heart man believeth unto

righteousness; and with the mouth confession is

made unto salvation." I do that now. I confess

that Jesus is Lord, and I believe in my heart that

God raised Him from the dead.

I am now reborn! I am a Christian—a child

of Almighty God! I am saved! You also said in

Your Word, "If ye then, being evil, know how to

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give good gifts unto your children: HOW

MUCH MORE shall your heavenly Father give

the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" (Luke

11:13). I'm also asking You to fill me with the

Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, rise up within me as I

praise God. I fully expect to speak with other

tongues as You give me the utterance (Acts 2:4).

Begin to praise God for filling you with the

Holy Spirit. Speak those words and syllables

you receive—not in your own language, but the

language given to you by the Holy Spirit. You

have to use your own voice. God will not force

you to speak. Worship and praise Him in your

heavenly language—in other tongues.

Continue with the blessing God has given

you and pray in tongues each day.

You are a born-again, Spirit-filled believer.

You'll never be the same!

Find a good Word of God preaching church,

and become a part of a church family who will

love and care for you as you love and care for

them.

We need to be connected to each other. It

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Psalm Ninety-One

increases our strength in God. It's God's plan for

us.

75

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gloria Copeland is an author and minister of

the gospel whose teaching ministry is known

throughout the world. Believers worldwide

know her through Believers' Conventions,

Victory Campaigns, magazine articles, teaching

tapes and videos, and the daily and Sunday

Believer's Voice of Victory television broadcast,

which she hosts with her husband, Kenneth

Copeland. She is known for "Healing School,"

which she began teaching and hosting in 1979 at

KCM meetings. Gloria delivers the Word of

God and the keys to victorious Christian living

to millions of people every year.

Gloria has written many books, including

God's Will for You, Walk With God, God's Will

Is Prosperity, Hidden Treasures and Are You

Listening. She has also co-authored several

books with her husband, including Family

Promises, Healing Promises and the best-selling

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daily devotional, Pursuit of His Presence.

She holds an honorary doctorate from Oral

Roberts University. In 1994, Gloria was voted

Christian Woman of the Year, an honor

conferred on women whose example

demonstrates outstanding Christian leadership.

Gloria is also the co-founder and vice president

of Kenneth Copeland Ministries in Fort Worth,

Texas.

Learn more about Kenneth Copeland

Ministries by visiting our Web site at

www.kcm.org.

78

Document Outline

- Your Promise of Protection

- Contents

- Psalm Ninety-One

- Psalm Ninety-One

- 1 What Are We Going to Do?

- Start Building

- Loaded with Benefits!

- It's Not Automatic

- 2 Keeping the Conditions

- Disobedience Is Dangerous

- 3 Say Something!

- 4 The Fowler's Snare

- 5 Surrounded by Danger

- 6 Don't Forget to Do Your Part

- 7 Angels at Your Service

- Fear Not!

- Out of the Fire

- The Secret Place

- 8 Facing the Lions

- Supernatural Trouble-Shooters

- 9 The Inward Witness

- It's Going to Take Time

Table of Contents

Psalm Ninety-One.......................................................

Psalm Ninety-One...........................

What Are We Going to Do?.

Keeping the Conditions.

Say Something!.

The Fowler's Snare.

Surrounded by Danger.

Don't Forget to Do Your Part.

Angels at Your Service.

Facing the Lions.

The Inward Witness.

Your Promise of Protection

Contents

Start Building

Loaded with Benefits!

It's Not Automatic

Disobedience Is Dangerous

Fear Not!

Out of the Fire

The Secret Place

Supernatural Trouble-Shooters

It's Going to Take Time