Tag: prayer

Psalm 39

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            God is a pretty big God.  He is big enough to hear whatever is on our hearts.  It really does no one any good to have pretense with God.  The psalmist initially thought he had to hold back in speaking with God:  “I was mute and silent; I held my peace to no avail, and my distress grew worse.  My heart became hot within me.  As I mused, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue….” The psalmist goes on to speak openly and honestly to God about what was really on his heart and mind.
 
            Sometimes we might get the mistaken notion that we need to be guarded with God – that somehow we should treat him like we do with other people – coy, hesitant, keeping a respectable distance in conversation.  Maybe that ought to happen sometimes with other people, but it is silly to approach God in such a manner.  With God, we ought to be brutally honest about how we are really doing and how we are actually feeling.  God is not going to move mountains for us if we aren’t willing to admit there is one right in front of our faces.
 
            I’m quite sure that God has literally heard it all from people in the long millennia of human existence.  He isn’t going to be surprised by any of our thoughts and words.  So, why hide them?  It may be a radical thought to say that we can say anything to God and express our deepest emotions to him, but it is nonetheless true.  God wants to help us move along in this pilgrimage of faith we are on, but he will only do so if we are up front with him about our current location.
 

 

            God of the Ages, you are above all and know all things.  Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry; hold not your peace at my tears!   I am a sojourner with you, a guest, like all my forefathers.  Look away from me, that I may smile again, before I depart and am no more!  My hope is in you; without your abiding presence I am nothing.  Come, Lord Jesus, come.  Amen.

Psalm 63:1-8

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            The psalms are not just some nice ancient poems and songs about David and Israel; they are prayers which are still alive with the potential to connect us with God.  I sometimes personally like to contemporize the psalms so that I have before me a prayer which I can lift again and again to God in the midst of my own wilderness experiences.  Today’s psalm was crafted by David before he was king and was on the run from King Saul in the desert.  Here is my take on this psalm:
 
O God, you are my God; I’m putting all my effort into seeking you;
            my soul is thirsty for you;
my body is weak looking for you,
            like in a desert where there is no water.
I am no stranger to you because I have seen you work before,
            and I have gotten a glorious glimpse of your power in the past.
I have experienced that your steadfast love is better than life itself,
            and I now bank on those times and praise you despite my trouble.
I choose to keep on remembering you and blessing your holy name;
            In the mighty name of Jesus I will lift up my hands in praise, even if it looks weird to others.
 
I know that my soul will be satisfied in you, just like when I get a medium rare T-bone steak and sweet corn;
            and I will use my mouth to praise you with joy, no matter the circumstances,
when I remember you on my bed and can’t sleep,
            and meditate on your crazy good grace as I lie there with my eyes wide open;
for you have always been my help,
            and sitting on your lap I will be supremely confident and sing for joy.
Oh, my soul clings to you through this trial;

 

            and your mighty hand upholds me.  Amen.

2 Chronicles 20:1-22

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            Today’s Old Testament lesson is a wonderful account for the Christian season of Lent.  King Jehoshaphat and Judah were facing the terrible circumstance of war.  They were about to be attacked.  So, the king admitted his fear, sought the Lord for help, and proclaimed a national fast for everyone in Judah.  The king prayed, God answered, and Judah put together a praise team and a worship gathering to go before the army because they believed God was good for his word and would deliver them as he said.
 
            King Jehoshaphat’s prayer was deeply felt and sincere in its belief that God could and would answer.  The meat of the prayer was this:  “O our God we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us.  We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”  Now this is the kind of prayer that God delights to answer!  It was a prayer born of great need and desperation – a prayer upholding the name of God and discerning that unless he showed up, all would be lost.
 
            The foundational basis of all prayer to God is the recognition that we do not know what to do, other than look to the Lord.  We pray because we desperately need God to show up and do for us what we cannot do for ourselves.  We cry out to God in our affliction and believe that he will hear and save.  Afterwards, we are to stand firm, hold our position, and see the salvation from God on our behalf.  If we need some inspiration for prayer, and find ourselves in need of some faith to believe what God can do, then take the time to carefully and prayerfully read these verses.  Let prayer arise to the God of deliverance, and transform pressure into praise.
 

 

            God Almighty, you rule over all the nations of the earth.  In your hand are power and might, so that none are able to withstand you.  My eyes are fixed on looking for you to act on my behalf so that I might declare that your steadfast love endures forever, through Jesus Christ, my Savior.  Amen.

Nehemiah 1:1-11

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            Prayer is not a passive activity.  If done well, prayer takes time, a great deal of effort, and a sense of priority.  It is quite possible that biblical praying can be the most challenging, exhausting, laborious, and rewarding thing we do.  Through prayer we can become filled with the Holy Spirit, gain wisdom to make godly decisions, and access spiritual power that can melt the hardest of hearts and change the minds of the most stubborn of people.  In prayer we have the privilege of expressing our concerns and needs, as well as having God’s agenda revealed to us for what to do.  Our personal and corporate holiness is in direct proportion to the great task of prayer.
 
            When faced with the reality that Jerusalem was in trouble, Nehemiah prayed.  In prayer he owned the problems that Jerusalem faced.  He owned it through a prayer that emphasized and reminded God of his covenant with his people; he confessed the sins by which Israel violated that covenant; and held onto the promise that God would lift the curse on the city if the people would repent.
 
            Nehemiah had a compassionate heart that did not ignore what was going on in his native land, but wept, mourned, fasted and prayed.  He had a deep concern for and was profoundly disturbed by the news that Jerusalem was in trouble.  Rather than being preoccupied with himself, or turning his back on what was going on and focusing on his own new life in Babylon, he sought to do something about the security and spiritual health of his people.
 
            In his prayer to God, Nehemiah was genuine, persistent, confident, humble, and submissive to God.  He did not distance himself from the sins of the people, but clearly identified with them through a prayer of confession.  That confession was intense, honest, real, and urgent.  Sin always needs to be identified, acknowledged, and pardoned.  If it isn’t, there is no hope for things to be different.
 
            There is a season for everything.  Deer season may come and go, but it is always open season for prayer.  And Nehemiah’s prayer is a solid biblical model for us to emulate.  We all have our challenges to face.   Like Nehemiah, let’s own those challenges through prayer that is biblically focused, compassionately offered, and spiritually curious to know and do God’s agenda for our lives and for God’s people.
 

 

            Most merciful God, I confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.  We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.  I am truly sorry and I humbly repent.  For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.