Psalms – Prayers of Honesty
When we pray we don’t always hear God speak to our heart immediately with His answer. I am amused at saying this out loud for it happened to me this week. One thing we must continually internalize. We pray. God works. It’s really that simple.
Sincere, honest prayer is an exercise of our faith, trust and knowledge of God. It is an activity that draws us humbly to Him, admitting we cannot do this on our own and we need His help. Prayer is an admission that we need Him every hour to guide us to being our best while doing what He has invited us to be and do. Prayer aligns our hearts with His.Prayer helps us to understand exactly what the problem is in detail as we say the words specifically. Prayer shrinks the problem as we stand in His greatness. Prayer also provides creativity from the Creator Himself as He speaks to our hearts about the best path to take and how to get there! Our God is awesome and great, all-knowing, kind, gracious and loving.
Yes, we are at our best when we leave the rest to God. So, what happened this week? I have been waiting for weeks for word of a plan of action so our part of the project could be accomplished. As the wait grew longer, I considered pulling out of the project only because I was wondering if maybe this was not God’s will for us at this time. I trust God but I don’t always trust my ability to hear Him well, so I prayed sincerely, “God, what do YOU want”? We do not want to jump ahead of your best for all concerned. Show this simple daughter of yours what is next. 
God did exactly that before my prayer was off my mind. God was at work before my prayer was uttered, preparing hearts, prompting minds and filling in the details a bit more. We have to always remember, God is working while we are praying. We have to be okay with the wait. It is in the wait that we grow our trust and faith. God is working before our prayer leaves our lips, during our prayer and after. God is ALWAYS at work. Unlike us who must rest between tasks. Prayer is keeping in rhythm with the ebb and flow of God’s graceful dance. Join God where He is at work. This is the best place to be! David’s prayer today is a bit whiny but we must remember he is in the middle of a great physical and mental battle with the enemies of God’s people. He calls out to God with a heart, mind and soul that needs assurance that God is still working on his behalf. God is. God helps him. David realizes once more,
“In God we’ll do our very best…”
Psalm 60, The Message
A David Psalm, When He Fought Against Aram-naharaim and Aram-zobah and Joab Killed Twelve Thousand Edomites at the Valley of Salt
1-2 God! you walked off and left us,
kicked our defenses to bits
And stalked off angry.
Come back. Oh please, come back!
You shook earth to the foundations,
ripped open huge crevasses.
Heal the breaks! Everything’s
coming apart at the seams.
3-5 You made your people look doom in the face,
then gave us cheap wine to drown our troubles.
Then you planted a flag to rally your people,
an unfurled flag to look to for courage.
Now do something quickly, answer right now,
so the one you love best is saved.
6-8 That’s when God spoke in holy splendor, “Bursting with joy,
I make a present of Shechem,
I hand out Succoth Valley as a gift.
Gilead’s in my pocket,
to say nothing of Manasseh.
Ephraim’s my hard hat,
Judah my hammer;
Moab’s a scrub bucket,
I mop the floor with Moab,
Spit on Edom,
rain fireworks all over Philistia.”
9-10 Who will take me to the thick of the fight?
Who’ll show me the road to Edom?
You aren’t giving up on us, are you, God?
refusing to go out with our troops?
11-12 Give us help for the hard task;
human help is worthless.
In God we’ll do our very best;
he’ll flatten the opposition for good.
SOMETHING TO KNOW…
Warren Wiersbe helps us with what is going on in David’s life at this time. “According to the superscription, this psalm is a part of the history recorded in 2 Samuel 8:1-14 and 10:6-18 and 1 Chronicles 18:1-13 and 19:6-19, when David was winning battles and getting a name for himself (2 Sam. 8:13). While he was up north fighting the Arameans (Syrians), the Edomites attacked Israel from the south, doing a great deal of damage. David dispatched Joab with part of the army, and Joab and Abishai (1 Chron. 18:12) defeated Edom in the Valley of Salt, south of the Dead Sea. David must have written the psalm shortly after hearing the bad news of the invasion by Edom, but the psalm manifests a spirit of trust and confidence that the Lord would give Israel the victory, and He did.”
HEART CHECK:
David cried out to God throughout his lifetime in humbled honesty, in sincere praise and with gratitude for God’s Presence. David never felt closer to God as when he is facing challenging problems.Do we pray with this level of trust in God, our Father?
Do we pray KNOWING God is listening? Do we know GOD? Do we really know WHO we are talking to?
Take all the time you need to think about these questions. I am.
I hear God saying…
BE still and know that I am God.
BE still and know.
BE still.
BE
Dear Heavenly Father,
I am so blessed to know You hear my every thought and prayer. I am so grateful that you delight in every detail of my life that is directed by you. I want what you want. You keep my on my toes in the wait. You teach my your will and ways as You work. I am so thankful, so very thankful. All our trust is in You. I’m yours.
In Jesus Name, Amen
