I bind to myself today
the strong power of the invocation of the Trinity:
The faith of the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the elements.
I bind to myself today,
the power of the Incarnation of Christ, with that of His Baptism, The power of the Crucifixion with that of His Burial,
The power of the Resurrection with the Ascension,
The power of the coming of the Sentence of Judgment.
~Saint Patrick
These words are from an early translation of the famous Breastplate of Saint Patrick, one of the missionary Christian mystics who risked life and limb to bring the Gospel of Jesus to the warring Celts of Ireland. In these opening lines, Patrick is taking refuge in God in a mighty way. I bind to myself has a fierce intention to it, and no small wonder — these monks were operating in a dangerous pagan world, where witchcraft, shamanism, human sacrifice, curses, Celtic chieftains, and warring clans were the daily context of their mission.
A situation much like that of Psalm 91; a context much like ours.
The disciples of Patrick and other early Celtic saints took daily prayer very seriously, for they saw it as their way of taking refuge in God. From the 700s to 900s anno domini, Irish monks developed a particular kind of prayer called the “lorica,” the Latin word for armor. (The Latin Vulgate — a late-fourth-century Latin translation of the Bible — uses the word “lorica” for “breastplate” in Ephesians 6:14.) And so, over time, Patrick’s lorica was named his “Breastplate.”
But it has an earlier and more significant name.
In another early collection of those Celtic Christian prayers, the Liber Hymnorum, Patrick’s prayer is entitled Faeth Fiada, which in Old Irish means “The Deer’s Cry” or the “Mist of Concealment.” For it was passed down that Patrick’s prayers of refuge were so powerful as to conceal him from those witches and pagan warlords, cloaking Patrick in the semblance of a deer that he might pass in safety. Not unlike Brother Andrew smuggling Bibles into Soviet Russia while praying, “Lord, in my luggage I have Scripture that I want to take to Your children across this border. When you were on Earth, You made blind eyes see. Now, I pray, make seeing eyes blind. Do not let the guards see those things You do not want them to see.”1
This is the dynamism of Psalm 91 — refuge in the midst of danger, shelter in times of war.
The Work of Christ as a Mighty Tower
I bind to myself today,
the power of the Incarnation of Christ, with that
of His Baptism,
The power of the Crucifixion with that of His Burial,
The power of the Resurrection with the Ascension, The power of the coming of the Sentence of Judgment.2
These saints and mystics did far more than give reverent thanks to God for His goodness; they sought deep personal participation in the work of Jesus Christ. We must do the same.
The spiritual warfare of the hour we are living in is no different than what Patrick and his disciples faced. It might be worse because of the lateness of the hour, and it can be withering when you are under it. In those desolate moments, when my heart feels abandoned by God and I want to cry out, Where are You, God? Why aren’t You doing something? I catch myself and protect my heart like a breastplate by declaring that He has intervened for us in the mightiest and most powerful of all ways.
God has intervened for us with such thorough and everlasting victory in the work of Jesus Christ — His Cross, Resurrection, and Ascension.
I don’t think most postmoderns understand this, or they feel far from it, but the mystic heart runs to take refuge here, in the fact that we have already been included in the Cross, Resurrection, and Ascension.
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. — Galatians 2:20
But God is so rich in mercy, and He loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) For He raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:4–6)
What greater fortress could we ask for than this? What greater deliverance? A new life, a new identity, to be situated with Christ right now in the heavens, in His authority? Father — thank You! Thank You, God! We take refuge in it! Show us how to actively participate in it!
And so my daily prayers also include an invocation like Patrick’s:
Jesus, thank You for coming to ransom, restore, re-create, and reinstate me. I love You, Lord. I worship You. I receive again this morning all the work and triumph in Your Cross. I take my place in the Cross today, dying with You to sin and the Self-Life, to Satan, to The World and its corruptions. I take up the Cross and crucify sin and the Self-Life. I bring the Cross, Blood, and sacrifice of the Lord Jesus over my life today, over my home and household. I cleanse myself with the Blood of Christ.
And Jesus, I also sincerely receive You as my life. You are my life. I am saved by Your life. I reign in life through Your life. I receive all the triumph in Your resurrection, and I take my place in Your resurrection this morning. I enter Your life, Jesus, and I receive Your faith, hope, and love. I receive Your wisdom, power, and strength. Your holiness. Your life in me. And I bring the resurrection and the River of Life over, around, and throughout my life today, my family, and my household.
Jesus, I also receive all the work and triumph in Your authority, ascension, and throne. All authority in the heavens and on this earth has been given to You, Jesus. You are the Integrating Center of all things. And I have been raised with You in your authority. So I take my place in Your authority and ascension now, and I bring all of my home, family, and household under Your rule and into Your Kingdom. I command the fullness of Your Glory, Love, and Kingdom throughout my kingdom and domain this day.
It helps, my skeptical friends; it works... mightily.
1. Brother Andrew, John Sherrill, and Elizabeth Sherrill, God’s Smuggler (Signet Books, 1968), 100.
2. Cahill, How the Irish Saved Civilization, 116.
Excerpted with permission from Experience Jesus, Really by John Eldredge, copyright John Eldredge.
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Your Turn
Does your heart feel abandoned today? Do you wonder if God does anything on your behalf of if He has turned His eyes away from you? Take comfort today because your identity, Believer, is in Him. He bought you at a great price! He’s with you! ~ Devotionals Daily
