Let my supplication come before You; Deliver me according to Your word. Let my lips utter praise, For You teach me Your statutes. Let my tongue sing of Your word, For all Your commandments are righteousness. Let Your hand be ready to help me, For I have chosen Your precepts. I long for Your salvation, O LORD, And Your law is my delight. Let my soul live that it may praise You, And let Your ordinances help me. Psalms 119:170-175
How to Appeal to God in Prayer: v.7-12
Now that we are ready to pray what will be in our prayer? David’s cry is a petition...God help me! In this prayer we see the elements of a heart-felt prayer. There is no pretense now that he has been meditating on the person and power of the Lord. The time has come to pour out his heart.
When you pray...
- • Don’t deny your emotions. v.7a cry with my voice Note that David’s prayer is a natural, not formal, expression. He does not recite religious phrases but speaks naturally to the Lord as he would a friend. The emotional expression of his words release the pressure of his life. How we need to learn to talk things out in prayer before we act them out in life!
- • Remember God’s grace. v.7b be gracious to me He is not afraid to tell God the truth about his life. He has been immersed with the love and mercy of God in his preparation.
- • Declare your past obedience. v.8 When You said, "Seek My face," my heart said to You, "Your face, O LORD, I shall seek." It is not wrong to declare your position before God. For Christians we pray through the sacrifice and priesthood of Jesus our Savior. We need to remember our privilege to pray with boldness.
- • Petition God’s presence. v.9-10 Do not hide Your face from me Petition is made to one who not only cares but is related to our success. God wants us to succeed for His glory. As a parent glories in a child so God glories in our success.
- • Commit to listen and learn. v.11 Teach me Your way, O LORD, and lead me in a level path because of my foes. Here is a vital part of prayer...a submission to the ways of God. This not just saying we are willing to perform if we agree. It is an open trust in the providence of God’s ways.
- • Confess the truth. v.12 Do not deliver me over to the desire of my adversaries, For false witnesses have risen against me God deals with the truth about our lives. Until we deal on that level as well we cannot be helped. When someone speaks against you, are they false witnesses or do you wish they were?
The Trial Remains. How do we Wait for the Answer to Prayer: v.13-14
- • Look for God around you. v.13 I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living. “Thank God I can believe!” Why?
Because of light, desire, hope, past deliverance…Because God heard me! Despair can be expected where hope is not alive. - • Listen for God within you. v.14 I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living. WAIT! At God’s door in prayer. At God’s feet in humility. At God’s table in service. At God’s mouth with expectancy.
Waiting is a job to be done right to achieve its desired result. Has your confidence in God led to a prayer of guidance and support? Wait on the Lord in prayer.
Scripture to Claim:
The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the person who seeks Him. It is good that he waits silently for the salvation of the LORD. Lamentations 3:25-26
