Monday, August 7, 2023
Prayer is something like a house with only one access point, the door that admits a person into the presence of God. In these two verses there are four bitting cuts (like the ridges of a key which align with a lock’s notches to open the door).
King David’s prayer is a model no believer ought to forget. Without these cuts no prayer will align with God’s requirements…the access point will remain closed.
Bit-Cut #1 – I know you will answer
Faith is
trusting that God does hear and answer; apostle James understood this:
But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with
divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed
by the wind. James 1:6
Faith isn’t arrogance or knowing the
magic combinations of words (your own words are always better…right from the
heart and soul).
Bit-Cut #2 – Bend down
Asking God to
“bend down” to hear you is an acknowledgement of your position relative to God’s. He is the enthroned one. Isaiah gives us this picture:
In the year that king Uzziah died I
saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his
train filled the temple. Isaiah 6:1(KJV)
“High and
lifted up” is where God resides. Our prayer
access point won’t open if we approach God as equal; all facts are to the
contrary. God is eternal, creator of the
universe, all powerful, and holy. We are
below that; way below that.
Bit-Cut #3 – Unfailing love
The Hebrew
word for God’s “unfailing love” is chesed.
In other parts of Scripture the word is translated as lovingkindness,
or mercy. The primary
thought is of God’s covenant love, the love he showed to Abraham in blessing
him for his obedience. This is the “unfailing”
love of which David writes…the response of God to anyone who withholds nothing
from God. Apostle James explains:
Don’t you remember that our ancestor
Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son
Isaac on the altar? You see, his faith and his actions
worked together. His actions made his
faith complete. James 2:21-22
Bit-Cut #4 – Surrender to the rescue
King David
recognized it is God’s mighty power that rescues those who
acknowledge God’s sovereignty in this universe.
This is a matter of trusting God no matter what the circumstances seem
to dictate. It is placing faith in Him alone,
rather than any other sources of supposed strength you may have considered or leaned-upon
in the past. God gave Solomon this
thought to pass on to us about surrendering to God’s rescuing blessings:
Trust in the Lord with
all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will
show you which path to take. Proverbs 3:5-6
For You Today
God’s covenant love
was best expressed in Jesus Christ.
Jesus told his disciples there wasn’t anything he would withhold from
them if they asked in his name.[1]
That’s the access point – not a magic formula,
simply a fact. To ask in his
name, is to have all the “bitting cuts” in place: faith He will answer, faith in His strength,
faith in His mercy, and surrendering all to His will.
You chew on that as you
hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!
There are about 2,600 devotional
posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.
Title Image:
via Pixabay.com
Images without citation are in public domain. Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT©
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