Tag: pray

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God is listening.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Bend down, O Lord, and hear my prayer; answer me, for I need your help. Protect me, for I am devoted to you. Save me, for I serve you and trust you. You are my God. Be merciful to me, O Lord, for I am calling on you constantly. Give me happiness, O Lord, for I give myself to you. O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive, so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help. Listen closely to my prayer, O Lord; hear my urgent cry. I will call to you whenever I’m in trouble, and you will answer me. Psalms‬ ‭86‬:‭1‬-‭7‬ ‭NLT‬‬

What would you like to say to God? What do you want to tell Him?

David, the beloved King of ancient Israel was no saint. It’s hard to say, but likely he was a way better sinner than you or I will ever be! Sure he was brave (or arrogant). Sure he was confident (or cocky). Sure he was charismatic (or manipulative). But, David gave us more insight into his own life AND a more authentic prayer life than any other character in the Bible!

David was prolific in being real before a Holy God! This Psalm is one of many where David is hurting and afraid, yet it does not stop him from pouring out his heart and soul to God. “Bend down, hear me, answer me – I need your help.” It’s raw and unfiltered, he’s certainly not pandering for spiritual points, trying to make it look like his life is all together!

It’s because these prayers, these pursuits of conversations with God that we too can let it all out, say what we’ve got to say, and know we are safe in our relationship with God. There is SO MUCH to learn from Psalms like this one. My question is, “do I talk with God with as much unpolished presence as David?” God is listening! I can’t say that God is waiting around, fretting about our prayer life. But I can confidently say this – God wants to hear from us when we are at our best and our worst.

When things are good, give God a shoutout of praise. Thank Him for His mercy and grace, blessing and favor. And when things are bad, TELL HIM. If you need some help with verbalizing or converting a mess of emotions into words, then PRAY David’s prayer in this Psalm. Don’t just read it – PRAY IT – OUT-LOUD. God knows our heart, He is willing to hear the wrestling in our soul. Talk to Him while driving through traffic. Talk to Him when you wake up in the night. Greet Him in the morning. And, say goodnight before you close your day. Just pray – He is listening. Maybe He will speak to you in the storm, in the quiet, in the battle, in the confusion or raging anger. Get it all out, then quiet your soul and listen.

Prayer

Dad,
I know you hear me when I pray! I know you answer me when I feel trapped, surrounded, overwhelmed or afraid. I am so thankful for your love and patience with me. I am so grateful that you know my sin and my frailty. I love everyone one of the moments when we talk. I pray, you listen. I listen and you speak to me through Your Holy Spirit. I am comforted by Your presence and have never regretted our time together. Plus, I can’t wait until I see you face to face and spend all of eternity with you and the people who love you. Amen.

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Who talks like this?

Reading Time: 2 minutes

“When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭7‬-‭8‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I can’t imagine any babbling conversation between two people going like this, let alone a talk with God. The only people I know that babble are my grandtodds. And they are adorable, btw. Jesus says “don’t do this.” Of course, we do anyways. There lots of denominations and different sects of Christianity that teach repetitive prayers and I feel it loses the whole point of praying. Praying isn’t only one directional, again – it’s conversational.

There is praise, declaration, requests or petitions, then there is also listening and being still to receive from God. There are even plenty of persistent prayers as if we needed to remind God of our urgency, but there are ways to consistently ask even as Jesus told the stories of the persistent requests from neighbors. I don’t think God minds persistent, consistent prayers, I think He loves knowing we’re serious about things – especially when it comes to others.

My prayer life exploded with wonder and delight when I prayed like the Psalmists prayed – gutsy, angsty, even angry prayers. Prayers of deep emotions and substance. Prayers that I’ve had to work at translating feeling into words. My prayers also changed when I finally realized that I could ask God anything. I could ask Him hard questions that no one else seemed to ask and definitely no one wanted to give answer to.

I love Jesus phrase, “your Father knows exactly what you need before you ask him.” Leading some to think, “well, why should I pray then?” Maybe like any quality relationship, words and communication are critical. When there is little or none, it is a signal that something is wrong. Maybe it’s also just the fact that God loves hearing our thoughts, words, questions and long conversations. When the world began God had communion and communication with humans. I just believe that God still desires to walk and talk with us. Start with the “Lord’s prayer,” although it’s really the children’s prayer. “Our Father who is in heaven, holy is Your name!” Start there to get you going and then just keep on going after reciting this beautiful memorized prayer.

Prayer

Dad,
I love our conversations in the morning when facing a brand new day. Thankfully it begins FULL of your mercy. I even love the conversations before drifting off to sleep when I have gone total mercy-bankrupt at the end of each day. I don’t necessarily like the 1, 3 or 4 am conversations that get a little creepy or desperate while wondering why I am awake. But even then, I know you hear me and often comfort me and pour out your peace. My favorite times are the drives into work, around town or to vacation locations. I have been preferring the quiet, no music and no verbally correcting other drivers. Prayer time has become much more like breathing, a regular refreshing time in your presence. If this is what “old-er” age affords me, well, I like it.