May
the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight,
O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14
be pleasing in your sight,
O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14
The topic of prayer has
recently come up in my journey. Not just
from the standpoint of my own prayers but more into the thought of praying the
right prayer. When I was a younger
Christian (if you consider being 40 ‘young,’ I heard a gentleman talk about
prayer life saying that God is all knowing, and even if you are not good at
prayer, he understands your heart. And
He will hear your prayer and request. As
I’ve grown older, I heard more complex teachings on prayer. For example, the sermon at my church this
week gave me three key takeaways. My
pastor said that prayer is defined by the entire Bible and not just a few
verses. Second, it is about connecting
with God and not about what we get out of it.
Finally, it is an act of obedience and not desperation. These points were very helpful in
understanding what a prayer life should be like. My confusion however focused on what I first
learned. If my prayers are not really
good, can my prayer life be? The answer
is in the humility which you present it with.
Our words and hearts
must be in alignment with each other for our prayers to really be
worthwhile. You see, you really can’t
have a solid prayer life unless your heart is into it. That is why a person who is born again and
seemingly ignorant on the right way to pray to God can be more impactful than
the most studied of prayer warriors. Reading
the Psalms of David are a great reminder of what a successful prayer life would
sound like. I was reading a historian’s
viewpoint on David’s writing of the 19th Psalm. They said the chapter is twofold talking
first about how great God is and how he is Lord over all things. However, the second part is a bit of his own
introflection. David wrote:
How can I know all the
sins lurking in my heart?
Cleanse me from these hidden faults.
Keep your servant from deliberate sins!
Don’t let them control me.
Then I will be free of guilt
and innocent of great sin. Psalm 19:12-13
Cleanse me from these hidden faults.
Keep your servant from deliberate sins!
Don’t let them control me.
Then I will be free of guilt
and innocent of great sin. Psalm 19:12-13
It’s as if to say, “I know I am not you,
God. Help me be a good man and not a
worldly one.” This shows the humility of
David understanding that while he is King of Israel and a great man, he is a
servant of God, and as such, needed Him to help make the right choices so that
he will be blameless. How often do we go
to God with this kind of heart? One that
acknowledges His greatness and our weakness?
This was why the closing of the 19th Psalm was perfect. We want our prayers to fully see who God is,
and to look upon Him knowing we simply cannot make it without Him. This is the heart of a believer who is fully
connected with God.
Our prayer life is a
simple reminder of our relationship with God.
It keeps it real because it is above a ritual that we mark off and more
personal than practical. Do not let your
prayers just be an idle act. Make it
meaningful and impactful as a true act of worship, appreciation, and adoration
for the one true living God. Are your
prayers heartfelt or just going through the motions? What changes can you make to improve on your
prayers and prayer life? My prayer is
that we go to God frequently with two key ingredients; heart and humility. Amen.
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