I believe that it is scriptural to pray for safety. All prayer seems in some way to be by nature an expression of our helplessness and of our need to find security and safety in our loving God. I think specific prayer for safety at any one time is just one such expression of this. In the prayer Jesus used as an example for the disciples, the words “deliver us from evil” seem to me to have an element of prayer for safety in it. Also in John 17:15 Jesus is seen praying for his disciples to be kept “from the evil one.”
This doesn’t mean that when we pray for safety that God will answer as we wish, but our prayer nevertheless honors Him. After James was martyred in Acts, Peter was imprisoned, also to be killed. The prayers of the saints may have been instrumental in rescuing him from the same outcome, see Acts 12:12. In 3 John2, John prays for Gauis “that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes with your soul.”
This next scripture I believe also allows for us to pray for safety: “The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (Phil 4:6).
Having said that, physical safety is important, but like Daniel’s friends, it will not deter our faith should God not deliver us physically. Jesus also says, “Do not fear those who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” The well-being of our temporary body is important to God, but right now it’s not the number one goal of our faith.
By Rob Morley
Real Church Life 