Prayers of protection: what they do and how to pray them

Svichka.org · Updated 2026-10-07 · 8 min read

A prayer of protection is not a charm and not a formula that stops a bullet. It is a request to God for covering, spoken either in your own words or in the words of the Church. Below, in order: what such a prayer does, what it never does, which texts people read for soldiers, for the home, in fear and for enemies, and the full text of Psalm 90.

In this article: Psalm 90 · How to read the psalm · The daily prayer · Common questions

The prayer texts below were written by us in the manner of church prayers. They are not official texts of the Church: the canonical prayers are in a prayer book.

What a prayer of protection is

A prayer of protection is an appeal to God asking for covering and safekeeping. In a prayer book it sits among the prayers for various needs, not set apart as something unusual. The Church knows several such texts: Psalm 90, the prayer to the Precious Cross, the Our Father, the prayer to the guardian angel, the prayer to the Mother of God. People read them at home before the icons, on the road, in church. There are no numbers in the prayer, no objects, no words that must be said in a particular order. A person simply admits that he cannot keep himself safe, and asks for help. That admission is the heart of it. Nothing is manipulated, nothing is forced. It is a request, spoken by someone who knows his own limits and turns to the One who has none.

What a prayer of protection guards against

First of all it guards against fear and panic. In danger a person stops thinking straight, and prayer gives his head back to him. Then it guards against the evil intentions of other people and against his own dark thoughts. On the road, on a journey, on a night shift. In illness. In wartime, for those at the front. Against despair and against temptation, when it seems there is no way out. Prayer gives footing and sobriety. A person does not stop acting, but he stops panicking and takes the next step. That is the plain, practical work of it. Not a shield that makes him untouchable, but a ground under his feet when everything else is shaking. He still has to move, decide and help where he can. The prayer keeps him steady while he does it.

What a prayer of protection does not do

Prayer does not make a person immortal and does not cancel the laws of the world. It does not replace a doctor, it does not make a dangerous crossing safe, and it does not lock the door for us. No text guarantees an outcome, and there are no stronger words that force God to grant a request. God is not a mechanism, and prayer is not magic. If someone promises protection for money, through an amulet, a charm or the removal of a curse, that is no longer Christianity. The Church has no charms and no prayers meant to harm another person. This matters, because fear makes people easy to sell to. Anyone who trades in guaranteed safety is selling something he does not have. What the Church offers is not a technique but a relationship, and in a relationship you ask, you do not command.

Prayer for soldiers and for those on the road

People pray for soldiers at home and in church. They submit a name for health, light a candle, read Psalm 90. The Church does not promise that prayer will stop a bullet, but it asks for safekeeping, for strength and for a safe return home. For those travelling, people pray before departure, and prayer books carry a separate prayer for travellers. A short text can be read in the car before setting off or on a train. It takes a moment and costs nothing. We put the longer prayer for defenders into a separate article so as not to repeat it here. If you are seeing someone off, or waiting for a message from the front, you can use the short one and mean it. The length of the words is not what carries them.

Prayer for the home and the family

People pray for the home in the morning and in the evening, together or alone. An icon in the house is not a charm, it is the place where the lamp burns and the prayer is read. They ask for agreement, for children, for peace between spouses, for bread on the table and for evil to stay outside the door. A home can be blessed: a priest sprinkles the house with holy water, which is ordinary Church practice, not a ritual for luck. If a family is quarrelling, prayer will not replace the conversation, but it helps to begin it without shouting. That last point is worth keeping. Prayer does not do the work of speaking to each other. It softens the ground so the speaking can happen. A home where people pray is still a home where people must talk, forgive and share the ordinary load.

Prayer in fear and anxiety

Fear is a normal reaction, not a sin and not a lack of faith. Anxiety comes during an air raid, in a hospital, on a night road, after the news. In such minutes the Church advises praying briefly and often, not long and beautifully. The Jesus Prayer, the Our Father, Psalm 90, the prayer to the guardian angel. Breathe evenly, say the words aloud, remember that God is near. If fear does not pass for weeks and keeps you awake, that is a reason to see a doctor. Prayer and a doctor do not contradict each other. Nobody should be told that a shaking heart is a failure of belief. It is a body and a mind under strain, and both need care. The short prayer steadies you in the moment, and the doctor helps with what the moment cannot fix.

Psalm 90, "He that dwelleth in the secret place"

Psalm 90 in the Church numbering, Psalm 91 in the Hebrew, is known among people as the psalm of defence. It is read in danger, in wartime, before a journey, in illness. In the King James Version it opens with the words He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High. Some people copy the psalm onto a sheet of paper and carry it with them. The Church views this soberly: reading the text and understanding it matters more than carrying a slip of paper in a pocket. The full text is below. A folded paper in a wallet is not wrong, but it is not the point either. The words are meant to be in the mind and on the lips, ready when the night is long. Carrying them inside you is the whole intention.

Psalm text: King James Version, 1769.

How to read Psalm 90

Read it slowly, aloud or silently. At home before an icon, on the road, in church. It is good to begin with the Our Father, then the psalm itself, and to end with a short request in your own words about what hurts right now. Many people read it every morning as a shield for the day. In danger you can repeat a single verse: For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. This needs no candle, no special place and no particular hour. People read the psalm both for themselves and for those who are far away. If you are worried about someone in another city or another country, you can read it with his name in your heart. Nothing about this requires preparation or a particular mood.

Prayer for enemies

Christ told us to pray for those who offend us, and this is the hardest request in a prayer of protection. To pray for an enemy does not mean agreeing with what he does, and it does not forbid seeking protection in a lawful way. A prayer for revenge is not a prayer at all. The point is different: to ask God to stop the evil and turn the person around, and to keep my own heart from hardening. A simple formula: protect me and stop him, do not let me hate. So a person prays both for the one who caused pain and for his own heart, tired of hating. This is not weakness. Hatred wears a person down from inside, and asking God to lift it is a request for your own survival as much as for anything else.

A short prayer of protection for every day

Long texts are good in the evening, but during the day a short prayer carries you. Its place is wherever an ordinary task begins: at the door, behind the wheel, before a conversation you dread, before sleep. You can tie the prayer to a habit you already keep every day, and then it is not forgotten. One line said attentively is worth more than a long text read on the run. The habit does the remembering for you. If you always pause at the same door, or always reach for the same key, the words will come back on their own after a while. You do not need to feel anything special. You only need to say it and mean it, and then go on with your day.

What a candle does and does not do

A candle in church is not a charm and not an amulet. It is a prayer you can see: a sign that a person is asking and waiting. We light a candle for you in church and send the photo on Telegram or WhatsApp. If your request arrives before 6 pm Kyiv time, the candle burns the same day. We have no priest, so we do not serve full services; a priest at a parish does that. Our part is the visible candle and prayer alongside you. As of October 2026 we have lit more than two hundred candles. We say this plainly because we do not want anyone to think a candle works by itself. It stands for a request made to God, and it stands for the fact that you are not alone in making it.

📷 Photos from the church: what your candle looks like

Candles on the kanun: this is the photo you receive

We do not send stock images. Every photo is a candle we actually placed on the kanun in the church, taken the same day. That is why you see the date and time in the message.

If your request arrives before 6 pm Kyiv time, the candle burns the same day and the photo comes that evening. Later requests are lit the next morning.

Common mistakes with prayers of protection

The first mistake is expecting a guarantee: I read it, so nothing bad will happen tomorrow. The second is reading the prayer like a spell, in a whisper, with a set number of repetitions, and with the thought that there are other private methods as well. The third is being ashamed of a short prayer and waiting for the right text. The fourth is praying once a year, in great trouble, and then wondering why there is no habit. The fifth is shifting onto prayer what a person must do himself: treatment, safety, responsibility for his own choices. All of it is easy to fix; two minutes a day is enough to start. None of these mistakes makes a person foolish or unfaithful. They are ordinary, and they are corrected simply, by beginning again tomorrow.

Common questions

What does a prayer of protection guard against?

Against fear and panic, against the evil intentions of other people, against despair and temptation. It gives footing in danger: a person does not stop acting, but he stops panicking. On the road, in illness, in wartime for those at the front.

What does a prayer of protection not do?

It does not replace a doctor, does not make a dangerous act safe and does not cancel the laws of the world. No text guarantees an outcome, and the Church has no amulets or charms. Prayer is not magic.

Can I read Psalm 90 every day?

Yes. Many people read it every morning as a shield for the day. It needs no candle, no particular hour and no special place. In danger you can repeat a single verse of the psalm.

Do I need a charm or amulet for protection?

No. The Church has no charms, no talismans and no prayers meant to harm another person. If someone promises protection for money through an amulet or the removal of a curse, that is not Christianity.

Which prayer should I read before a journey?

The Our Father, Psalm 90 and a short prayer for travellers. The text is short enough to read in the car before setting off or on a train. Prayer does not replace a roadworthy car and a sober driver.

What should I do when fear or anxiety takes over?

Pray briefly and often: the Jesus Prayer, the Our Father, Psalm 90, the prayer to the guardian angel. Breathe evenly, say the words aloud. If fear does not pass for weeks and keeps you awake, see a doctor.

Can I pray for my enemies?

Yes, and it is the hardest request in a prayer of protection. Praying for an enemy does not mean accepting evil, and it does not forbid seeking protection in a lawful way. A prayer for revenge is not a prayer.

Can I order a candle for protection?

Yes. We light a candle in church at your request and send the photo. It is free. If the request arrives before 6 pm Kyiv time, the candle burns the same day; later requests are lit the next morning.

Read next

Prayer for soldiers · Prayer for peace · Prayer for Ukraine · Prayer for the family · Prayer before sleep · The Lord's Prayer · The Panikhida, explained · Candle for the departed · All prayers