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.
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