to you

Days of prayer to save

days of prayer to save

A Psalm describes well how both comfort and anguish can reside in our hearts at the same time when we remember the works of God.

I cry aloud to God;
    I cry aloud, and he hears me.
In times of trouble I pray to the Lord;
    all night long I lift my hands in prayer,
    but I cannot find comfort. – Psalm 77:1-2 GNT

Crying out to God is affirmed again and displayed is a confidence that God has heard.

“Days of trouble must be days of prayer; in days of inward trouble, especially when God seems to have withdrawn from us, we must seek him, and seek till we find him. In the day of his trouble he did not seek for the diversions of business or recreation, to shake off his trouble that way, but he sought God, and his favour and grace. Those that are under trouble of mind, must not think to drink it away, or laugh it away, but pray it away.” – Henry, cited in Spurgeon

I notice that in times of trouble my prayer looks like this – it is urgent (cry), it is active (hands) and it is persistent (all night long).

This is what John has to say about it.

 I am writing this to you, my children, so that you will not sin; but if anyone does sin, we have someone who pleads with the Father on our behalf—Jesus Christ, the righteous one.  – I John 2:1 GNT

I have someone interceding for me – someone the Psalmist did not have. I will be saved.

“The tree is no mere channel, piping water unchanged from one place to another, but a living organism which absorbs it, to produce in due course something new and delightful, proper to its kind and to its time.” – Derek Kidner

 

Prayer for protection

prayer for protection

Most of us would not see the evil world as our enemy but this photo reminded me that they are our worst enemy. So when I read the Psalms this morning I tried to keep this in mind.

David prayed for God’s protection in Psalm 64 and I loved his opening sentence.

I am in trouble, God—listen to my prayer!
    I am afraid of my enemies—save my life! – Psalm 64:1 GNT

David finds himself in prayer when he is in trouble.

“He can but pray, but he can pray; and no man is helpless who can look up. However high and closely engirdling may be the walls that men or sorrows build around us, there is always an opening in the dungeon roof, through which heaven is visible and prayers can mount.” – Maclaren

The next Psalm (65) reveals just how abundantly God provides for those who call on Him in prayer and trust in Him. The response is praise from those He blesses.

O God, it is right for us to praise you in Zion
    and keep our promises to you,
    because you answer prayers. – Psalm 65:1-2 GNT

“Theology, which is the proper study of God, should always lead to doxology, the proper worship of God. Learning the truth about God, that He is the giver of all good things, should produce praise for God in the life of the believer.” – Steven Lawson

God answers prayer.

Because God’s image makes man to be man, prayer involves a response that has no parallel in human experience. Personal relations on the human level are necessarily partial. A man relates to his wife in a way that differs from his relating to a business partner or to a chance acquaintance. We sustain roles that can express only partially our own personhood. In relation to God, however, we are ‘naked and pinned down’ (Heb. 4:13). Our masks are gone, pretence is useless: the relationship is not partial, but total. All that we are stands related to our Maker and Redeemer. – Edmund Clowney