The first question that might come to mind is a common one. “What, exactly, IS a “hedge prayer?”
The Biblical understanding is that a hedge prayer is essentially a prayer for protection or containment. (Containment may not be the best choice of words, but it’s the one Rodger uses the most; others might say it’s a prayer of “direction, discipline, or compliance.)
The concept of hedge prayer as protection comes from Job 1: 8 – 10: “8 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.” 9 “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. 10 “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land.”
While some translations, like the NIV above use the actual word “hedge,” others use similar terms. (The NRSV uses the word “fence” as a translation of the Hebrew ” שׂוּךְ (suwk); the primitive root can include numerous possible translation choices, such as “to entwine, i.e. shut in (for formation, protection or restraint):—fence, (make an) hedge (up).”) Thus the “hedge prayer” in this instance is asking for God’s protection: “God build a hedge around Job and protect him from any harm.”
The notion of hedge prayer as containment stems from Hosea 2:6, where God instructs Hosea to announce that the restoration of Israel would come – at least partially – as a result of his adulterous wife Gomer being confined and directed by God’s “hedge” in verse 6ff: “Therefore I will hedge (the same Hebrew root in the form of a participle is used here; ־שָׂ֥ךְ) up her way with thorns, and I will build a wall against her so that she cannot find her paths. 7 She shall pursue her lovers but not overtake them, and she shall seek them but shall not find them. Then she shall say, “I will go and return to my first husband, for it was better with me then than now.”
It is unfortunate that many read this and confine the notion of “hedge of thorns” to nothing more than sexual matters; adultery, fornication, prostitution, etc. That rigid – and in Rodger’s opinion, far too narrow an interpretation – misses how God historically directs us via just such a hedge. Where else, would the notion of “When God closes a door, he opens up a window” as a way of God indicating his will for his people have come from if not exactly such a “hedge” prayer? This is FAR wider, and important, than to merely be parroted as a “prayer for an unfaithful husband / wife,” as it so often is limited to and intended for by those unwilling / unable to see the depth and power in the concept.
There is also a very clear and succinct legal understanding of the term “hedge” that Phil elucidates very clearly: Far too often, we “hedge” instead of coming right out and stating what should be said. We “hedge our bets,” “hedge about the truth,” or teeter on any euphemistic fence we can find, “hedging” without any commitment to one choice or another.
These concepts come into play here in what is actually a very simple, if provocative, idea: We believe that we are truly living in just such a time where such prayers and thoughts are needed. Our culture, our current political divide, the way the very essence of what we believe and live out as Christians is currently teetering on the edge of a theological and ontological razor blade; where a single misstep one way or another could well have disastrous implications. Some readers may criticize and critique these efforts as “overly political,” or any other of the recent cliche’ terms being bandied about. But both Phil and Rodger firmly believe that they are needed – primarily for those Jesus talks about in Matthew 11, Mark 4, or Luke 8, who have “ears to hear.” Perhaps this effort also fits into the mindset and faith practice that Mordecai was encouraging Esther to have the courage for in Esther 4:14: “14 For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”
For such a time as this? Perhaps WE are the people we’ve been waiting for. And if not us, then who? And if not now, then when?