Getting Good at Praying
15 My times are in your hand; rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors! 16 Make your face shine on your servant; save me in your steadfast love! 17 O Lord, let me not be put to shame, for I call upon you; let the wicked be put to shame; let them go silently to Sheol. 18 Let the lying lips be mute, which speak insolently against the righteous in pride and contempt. 19 Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of the children of mankind!
Psalm 31:15–19 ESV Read More
If you spend enough time in prayer, you find yourself going through a little bit of a mood cycle. You trust God as you pray and thank Him, then you get mad at something that you are praying about. Just like David, we cry out for God’s help and in the same breath curse those that are causing us trouble.
Why do the Psalms seem so crazy? Why do our prayers seem so crazy? Because they are all an honest conversation with God. Chances are, you have friends that you get along with all the time. You know not to bring up this or that, and all is peaceful. Then you might have other friends, or maybe family, that you don’t always get along with. Those might be the more honest relationships! As you show yourself more honestly, people see you for the bundle of paradoxes and conflict that you really are, and they have a chance to respond.
God loves us very much. He desires to be close to us and for us to open our hopes and ideas to Him fully and honestly. He is storing up goodness for those that are close to Him. When we pray in such a way that the Bible calls “in the Spirit,” the Holy Spirit is praying through us and we are engaging God that much more closely. As close as a person is when they talk to themselves! They are in their own heads!
Prayer is the deepest conversation with God that changes us and shapes us while affecting God at the same time. He humbles Himself to listen to mankind sometimes even reacts to us.
He is mighty over all: My times are in your hand
While showing us individual mercies: Don’t let me be put to shame
Spend some time praying today. Don’t double the distractions by feeling guilty about being distracted. God loves to spend time listening to you talk to Him. He bought your prayer ticket for you through the death of His son. He has given us the scriptures to show us examples. He sends His Spirit to go through it with us. With honesty before the God who sees everything and faith in the Lord Jesus that created it all, we cannot ‘pray’ wrong.
You can get the Daily Bible Readings via email every day by visiting Feedburner and clicking ‘Get Daily Bible Readings delivered by email’ over on the right side of the screen. Join the discussion online on Facebook or Twitter.