There was chaos in the streets of Quito, Ecuador on Thursday after the country's police turned on their own president.

Angry officers had taken to the streets earlier protesting a law that would cut their benefits. When President Rafael Correa tried to meet with them, some of the officers got physical -- shoving Correa and even using tear gas on him.

Security guards rushed the president to a hospital, where he remained under seige for the next 12 hours. The Ecuadorian military had to rescue him, turning the streets of Quito into a war zone.

The government has declared a state of seige and has put the army in charge of public order. In the midst of the upheaval, Christians are asking for prayer.

"We as Christians are praying. Ask for the Lord to take control of our Ecuador and to give wisdom to the government," Lorena Alvarez, director of the Bible Society of Ecuador said in a telephone interview with CBN News.

President Correa claims the opposition is attempting to drive him out of power. His leftist government is firmly allied to the socialist movement led by Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez.