June 27

Psalm 143

While reading this Psalm I was reminded of Sunday's sermon on prayer.  This Psalm is like an outline of how to pray for those who, like David, can say, "You are my God" and "I am your servant". I could picture David with tears streaming down his face crying out to God.  Prayer is not some kind of a technique that someone can use to manipulate God to get what they want, no matter how hard he cries.  Rather, prayer is for those who have repented of their sins, trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior and have entered into a relationship with Him, and who are seeking to follow Him as Lord with all of their heart. When we humble ourselves and approach His throne of mercy and grace and pray like this, God examines our hearts and hears us. To apply this vital lesson on prayer, we must know God as our own God and we must be obedient to Him as His servant. I don't know at what point David wrote this particular prayer, whatever the exact situation was is not relevant, the language is general enough that we all can identify with David. None of us are exempt from trials and the health and wealth teachings rank right up there with fake news. What is important in prayer is that we approach God with heartfelt humility and are obedient to respond to each trial the way David did, on our knees.  By making ourselves vulnerable in our crying out, we are positioning ourselves to gain peace by the power of the Holy Spirit, and we are allowing ourselves to know God better as we watch Him work in our lives. We don't know how God is going to answer our prayers, but we have to trust in His sovereignty.  I pray for everyone reading this that God fills you with peace that surpasses all understanding as He carries through your day.

Randi