Wednesday, July 10, 2019
O Lord, don’t rebuke me in your anger or
discipline me in your rage. Have
compassion on me, Lord, for I am weak. Heal
me, Lord, for my bones are in agony. I am sick at heart. How long, O Lord, until you restore me? Return, O Lord, and rescue me. Save me because of your unfailing love. For the dead do not remember you. Who can praise you from the grave? I am worn out from sobbing. All night I flood my bed with weeping, drenching
it with my tears. My vision
is blurred by grief; my eyes are worn out because of all my enemies. Go away, all you who do evil, for the Lord
has heard my weeping. The Lord has heard my plea; the Lord will answer my prayer.
May all my enemies be
disgraced and terrified. May they
suddenly turn back in shame. Psalm
6:1-10
Last
Sunday morning at church I was prompted to ask both congregations I serve a
question during worship while we were sharing prayer requests. I asked, how many of you have been praying
for five years or longer for something, and you still don’t see much movement…no
answer yet? The skimpy show of
hands surprised me, because I expected every hand to shoot up to the
ceiling. Instead, in both congregations
the response was just a few. Now, the
reasons, as I understand the possibilities, are:
·
People give up on something if they don’t get a quick answer
·
People assume a prayer “unanswered” is a “no” or a “wait” from God, and
don’t see the need to offer the prayer continually.
·
People don’t pray.
Now, this
last one is total foolishness…even a hedonist who cares nothing about God prays…when
that catastrophe comes in view, he says Oh God! That is a prayer…shorter than any sermon you’ve
ever heard, but a tacit call to heaven, nonetheless. Everyone, especially in times of trouble, prays!
David knew
plenty of reasons to pray in his lifetime.
He was a shepherd in his youth, facing lonely times protecting his flock
in the wilderness, including fighting off mountain lions and bears. He faced down the giant, Goliath. He was hounded by King Saul, the most
powerful man on earth. His enemies
wanted him dead. David’s son, Absalom
turned against him, wanting the king removed from the throne. And, not to be outdone, even David was David’s
enemy; just like you and me, David’s worst enemy, perhaps, was his own lapse of
remembering we are God’s and not our own.
Highs and lows…very low lows! This was David’s life, and, as with all of
God’s creatures, the higher the highs, the lower the lows. David had plenty of reasons to pray.
The key to
this recorded prayer of David’s is found in verse 9:
The Lord has heard my plea; the Lord will answer my
prayer.
David trusted
God more than he trusted his position, his intellect, his reputation, his
passion, or any person on earth. Short
or long, said only once or every waking moment for years, out loud, or in
secret, loudly with tears, or just a hushed whisper, David prayed in faith…and
that was the reason his prayers were answered!
For You Today
It is my firm belief that we are all hardwired to pray. Everyone prays, whether they admit it or not. So, I won’t say IF you
pray; let me say WHEN you pray, remember to pray in faith.
Go to VIDEO
[1]
Title Image: Pixabay.com Unless otherwise noted, Scripture used from
The
New Living Translation©
No comments:
Post a Comment