The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him and what came to my heart and mind in Psalm 4:1,
"Answer me when I call to you, my righteous God. Give me relief from
my distress; have mercy on me and hear my prayer."
David asks the Lord to hear his prayer. Obviously he knows the Lord
will listen to his prayer, else the psalm would be meaningless. David,
yet again, is struggling and so asks the Lord for his help. At the end
of the psalm, David acknowledges his confidence the Lord will answer,
"In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me
dwell in safety." Verse 8.
David, though not a perfect man, was a man of faith. As we read of
David's life we see he struggled with sin, as we all do. However, his
faith prompted him to seek mercy, forgiveness for his sins, relief
from difficulties, and blessings from the Lord in prayer. David was a
man of prayer. Not only do we share in David's shortcomings as a
sinner, those of us who have embraced the Lord in faith as David did
share his confidence the Lord listens to our prayers.
We are told in Ephesians 6:18, "Pray in the Spirit on all occasions
with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert
and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people." In Philippians
4:6-7 we are told, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every
situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your
requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all
understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
Paul instructed his young protege, Timothy, "I urge, then, first of
all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made
for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live
peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good,
and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to
come to a knowledge of the truth." 1 Timothy 2:1-4.
James observes why we should all pray, "The prayer of a righteous
person is powerful and effective." James 5:16. The reason the prayer
of a righteous person is powerful and effective is that the Lord
welcomes our requests. John spoke to this, "This is the confidence we
have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his
will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we
know that we have what we asked of him." 1 John 5:14-15.
I love the way the writer of Hebrews encourages us in prayer, "Let us
then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may
receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Hebrews
4:16.
May our confidence in approaching the Lord in prayer be as determined
as David's was!
A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here:
http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to
hear from you!
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