Prayer and Praise

 

Psalm 144:7-10(NLT), the psalmist, King David wrote, “7 Reach down from heaven and rescue me; rescue me from deep waters, from the power of my enemies. 8 Their mouths are full of lies; they swear to tell the truth, but they lie instead. 9 I will sing a new song to you, O God! I will sing your praises with a ten-stringed harp. 10 For you grant victory to kings! You rescued your servant David from the fatal sword.” This passage was written after David had risen to assume the throne as king over the nation of Israel. He had lots of enemies and recognized that God was his rescue and made this plea in Psalm 144:7-10 for help. In our times of trouble, this is what we must do as well.

We have nothing like the responsibilities and trouble that King David had, but God is willing and able to help us with any obstacles and tribulations we face. Many of us are suffering mentally and emotionally from the pressures of life, and sometimes we feel that God is far from us, but this is not true. Psalm 145:18(ESV) tells us, “The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.” Our Heavenly Father loves us so much that He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ to sacrifice his life for our sins. He wants to help us, and He instructs us in Philippians 4:6-7(NLT), “6 Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand.”

God tells us in Philippians 4:6 not to worry about anything, and this is what many of us do. We worry about the situations that diminish our peace and well-being, but God offers us the very best way of handling troubles and problems. He tells us to pray to Him about everything, and everything means we are to take before God all things, without exception, that are pertaining to our lives. We must also have faith that God hears us and that He is willing and able to help us.

Prayer

Hebrews 11:6(NLT) says, “And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.” Anyone that comes to our Heavenly Father for help must believe that He rewards us, but we must be diligent to pursue Him in the way that He requires. Diligence is a careful, steady, and devoted undertaking or pursuit. It means that when we pray, we really mean it. So, our prayers should not be one and done. We should view prayer to God as meaningful and consistent communication with Heavenly Father. It’s one of the important ways that causes our relationship with Him to grow in intimacy, and this is what He wants. 

Our diligence in the practice of prayer must also acknowledge God’s sovereignty, love, and power. Jesus Christ tells us in John 4:24(NLT), "For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” God must be worshiped in spirit and in truth. Worshiping in spirit means that we are not concerned with outside realities of places and looking a certain way, but we are recognizing the spiritual realities of Jesus Christ. We recognize that his sacrifice and resurrection has made it possible for us to be children who totally lean on our Heavenly Father for everything.

Worshiping in truth means honoring the truth of who God is. He tells us in Revelation 1:8(NLT), “I am the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end,” says the Lord God. “I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come—the Almighty One.” There is no one in all eternity that will compare to our Heavenly Father. He is all-powerful and all-knowing. Everything about Him is overflowing with love, truth, and perfection, and in like manner, His Word is overflowing with love, truth, and perfection. Understanding this about God and His Word will help us embrace the appropriate attitude of prayer.

Praise

God also tells us in Philippians 4:6 that the attitude of gratitude and thankfulness are also important to foster the honor and reverence we must have in prayer. Faith is the title deed to what we’re asking Heavenly Father to receive. This is vital to the right mind-and-heart-set of prayer. We should know when we pray to Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ that the answer is on its way. With joyful expectancy of praise and thanksgiving, we demonstrate to God, heaven, and everything beneath it, that we have full confidence in our Heavenly Father, and this pleases Him.

When tribulation paints the opposite picture of the more than abundant life that Jesus Christ came to earth to make available to us, we must not run in the opposite direction of God’s love and protection. Philippians 4:13 tells us that we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength. God wants us to get it in our cores that He has empowered us through Jesus Christ. When we pray to God, we can and should praise Him for the receipt of what we’ve asked for even though it hasn’t shown up yet. This kind of response and effort toward His goodness is what maintains the closeness in our relationship with God, and it demonstrates the kind of the honor and reverence that He so richly deserves.■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

“Prayer and Praise”, written by Kim for https://rescuefromdomesticviolence.blogspot.com© 2023. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Victory Comes with Letting Go

Joshua 1:9(NLT)
“This is my command – be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged.  For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

The Samaritan woman at the well in John, Chapter 4, was a broken woman. She had gone to the well to draw water for her family like many other women that were living during that time. So, when she met Jesus at the well, it might have seemed like any other day for her, but it wasn’t at all. She was at such a place in her life that God chose to work through her to help many others come to Christ and be set free. Her woundedness had caused her to step outside cultural norms of that Biblical period, and this was a very difficult choice for any woman living during that time. It meant a challenging life of constant stares, backbiting gossip, and shame. This was her condition when she met Jesus at the well, and the words he spoke broke the chains that had kept her bound.

Escaping the heat of summer days in Samaria, most women would come to the well in the early morning hours to draw water. The Samaritan woman that met Jesus at the well came late, and many believe it was to avoid the other women who would ridicule, stare, or be mean to her in other ways. Jesus Christ said to her in John 4:10-14(NLT), “10 If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water." 11 "But sir, you don't have a rope or a bucket," she said, "and this well is very deep. Where would you get this living water? 12 And besides, do you think you're greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his animals enjoyed?" 13 Jesus replied, "Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again.14 But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life."

This woman understood thirst. She knew intimately what it meant to be empty inside, and to try to fill a void with love from those who had no real love to give. John 4:15-18(NLT) tells us, “15 "Please, sir," the woman said, "give me this water! Then I'll never be thirsty again, and I won't have to come here to get water." 16 "Go and get your husband," Jesus told her. 17 "I don't have a husband," the woman replied. Jesus said, "You're right! You don't have a husband-- 18 for you have had five husbands, and you aren't even married to the man you're living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!" Having five husbands was very unusual for the times in which she lived and surely branded her with shame.

We could suppose that the woman at the well was working toward her sixth marriage because she thought, “If I can just be with this man, my life will be different. If I can get him to love me, I will be whole and satisfied, and I will be at home in his arms.” This was probably her thinking before each of the five marriages she had. Being alone for any length of time was a state she couldn’t accept. Whether it was overly romanticizing relationships or just boredom, it’s clear that her heart needed to be healed.

It’s not hard to imagine that she had grown used to living in the shadows, trying to find love and security in these men. If she had not met Jesus at the well, her fears and emptiness would have continued to rob her of love and light, but God had a plan. When Jesus began to talk to her about living water, she didn’t understand what he meant. She hadn’t thought of her soul as being starved and desperate to know real love. She didn’t think that anyone or anything could elevate her out of the pit of shame, insecurity, and self-punishment. For the longest while, it was all she knew, and letting go of them seemed out of the question.

There were plenty of women in Samaria that were considered by others to be good and upright wives. They knew the well and many of them used it, but it was the broken woman that had been married five times that God handpicked to meet Jesus that day. God wants you to know this, so that when you come to Him, you do so with the knowledge that He will heal all your woundedness if you let Him. We can let go of the shame, the insecurity, and all the pain we’ve endured through the storms of life that we have faced. Through whatever struggle, we can experience the peace of God. He will never leave us alone, and He will help us in our times of great struggle. Let go and let God. Have faith in Him, and He will turn your tribulation and trouble into a testimony of your victory in Christ. ■ 

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

“Victory Comes with Letting Go”, written by Kim for https://rescuefromdomesticviolence.blogspot.com© 2023. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.