Psalm 28
(go to http://www.biblegateway.com)
• Desperate cry for help
• Making his requests known to God
• Relief/peace
• Praising God
• Joy
Nine verses of prayer in a song to God during a difficult time for David. We are not told what time of life or what the specific circumstances in this psalm are and I’m not sure it’s necessary. This is a short and to the point way to pray to God and find peace and joy in the midst of terrible circumstances.
Notice that there is no resolution of David’s problems in this psalm but there is definitely a connecting with the character of God and who He is and that alone is what brought David the peace, hope and joy he needed in this situation.
We too can find the same thing in the midst of our difficult and sometimes horrible circumstances. We cry out to God believing that He is listening; we lay out our requests or laments out to Him and find relief and peace. From here we can then let our soul sing praise or speak praise to Him who has listened, met us in our time of need and brought relief and peace. Here we find joy in the love that our Lord Jesus has for us, right now, right here in this moment.
I, too, have experienced this same peace and joy in Christ in the moment. I have cried out to Him with shouts and tears at times seeking answers to questions and hope in what seemed like hopeless circumstances or unknown times of resolution of the current difficulties. What I discovered was Jesus was listening, He did care! Sometimes words of comfort from the Bible would come to mind or remembrances of His past help or songs that I had heard and song would filter through my mind or sometimes just a peace/relief would come over me and I too ended with praise and joy that I was heard. The problem had not gone away. The circumstances had not changed in those moments but Jesus heard me and He offered Himself to bring me comfort.
Tell me, have you experienced this same joy and peace and comfort in your times of need? Think back, sometimes we are so focused on what we want to happen that we miss the love that is coming our way. Know and believe that He is listening and He does care.
I would love to hear from you concerning your stories of how Jesus met you!
Showing posts with label prayer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label prayer. Show all posts
Monday, March 8, 2010
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Where does your hope lie?
As I was reading the Bible and praying one day, a prayer formed on my lips for a family member.
“Lord, help her to hope in You and who You are and not the answers to her prayers.”
You may think that a strange prayer but this person is becoming discouraged because it is taking God too long to answer her prayers. How often have we found ourselves in exactly this same spot? We have a situation that we are trying to lay in Christ’s hands and not worry about but when we don’t find the answer to the prayers we have so faithfully sent His way, we think there is no hope because He is not listening.
Here is my thought and hope for you in your time of need, whether it be now or in the coming future. Find hope in the character of Christ and who He teaches us He is the Bible. This is what is lasting and eternal! Who do you know Jesus Christ to be? Do you know much about Him at all? If you are having trouble with this, read His Word. You will find evidence of the character of Jesus/God in the entire Bible. Even in the tedious lists of the Old Testament we discover that everyone who chooses to serve Him, follow Him, obey Him is important to Him; even the guy who laid a brick on the southwest wall surrounding Jerusalem in Nehemiah or person who happened to be descended from Shem – one of Noah’s sons. We matter to God!
Throughout the Old Testament, we are reminded of God’s past provision. The Israelites took the time to remember the provision of God during some celebrations and in singing psalms to Him in worship. What was the purpose of the history lesson during church? Reminding those in attendance who God is and praising/worshipping/thanking Him for that and in the process finding hope in their current situations. He is all powerful, faithful, loving, comforting… These facts are what bring us hope in our time of need.
Hear me when I say this, pray to Jesus. He does listen. He does care. He does want us to pray to Him and give Him the burdens of our hearts in our times of need. But do not rest your hope on the answers to those specific prayers. We do not know the mind of God or His specific plans for our lives, therefore, we do not know how or when certain prayers will be answered. Lay your burdens down, remember how precious our prayers are to Him and then place you hope in the character of Jesus and what you know of Him. And then read that Bible and discover more about Him so you have more to hope in during your times of need.
“Lord, help her to hope in You and who You are and not the answers to her prayers.”
You may think that a strange prayer but this person is becoming discouraged because it is taking God too long to answer her prayers. How often have we found ourselves in exactly this same spot? We have a situation that we are trying to lay in Christ’s hands and not worry about but when we don’t find the answer to the prayers we have so faithfully sent His way, we think there is no hope because He is not listening.
Here is my thought and hope for you in your time of need, whether it be now or in the coming future. Find hope in the character of Christ and who He teaches us He is the Bible. This is what is lasting and eternal! Who do you know Jesus Christ to be? Do you know much about Him at all? If you are having trouble with this, read His Word. You will find evidence of the character of Jesus/God in the entire Bible. Even in the tedious lists of the Old Testament we discover that everyone who chooses to serve Him, follow Him, obey Him is important to Him; even the guy who laid a brick on the southwest wall surrounding Jerusalem in Nehemiah or person who happened to be descended from Shem – one of Noah’s sons. We matter to God!
Throughout the Old Testament, we are reminded of God’s past provision. The Israelites took the time to remember the provision of God during some celebrations and in singing psalms to Him in worship. What was the purpose of the history lesson during church? Reminding those in attendance who God is and praising/worshipping/thanking Him for that and in the process finding hope in their current situations. He is all powerful, faithful, loving, comforting… These facts are what bring us hope in our time of need.
Hear me when I say this, pray to Jesus. He does listen. He does care. He does want us to pray to Him and give Him the burdens of our hearts in our times of need. But do not rest your hope on the answers to those specific prayers. We do not know the mind of God or His specific plans for our lives, therefore, we do not know how or when certain prayers will be answered. Lay your burdens down, remember how precious our prayers are to Him and then place you hope in the character of Jesus and what you know of Him. And then read that Bible and discover more about Him so you have more to hope in during your times of need.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
What it's all about
Well, here I go, on another adventure with God. Who knew that someone like me would start a blog! I didn't even know what a blog was a year ago!
So why am I doing this? Well...to declare on my new mountain top how great God is! Years ago when I was in a really difficult season of my life, I was seeing Christ's faithfulness and provision on a regular basis. During this time I just wanted to shout from the mountain tops what He was doing in my life and how faithful He was. But there was no mountain in my corner of the world. Instead I would call a girlfriend and we would shout and cry and share with one another the song that touched our hearts or the verses we had read that answered a prayer or how much we appreciated a message at church or a topic in our weekly Bible study.
Due to the season of life I am in and the relatively new job I am in, regular time with friends isn't as available as it once was. So here is my new mountain top, my new place to sometimes shout for joy or quietly and in awe share how Christ revealed Himself in word or song.
I have heard it said, "My prayers are bouncing off the ceiling," or "When will He answer my prayer? Is He even listening?" This breaks my heart! The Bible tells us over and over again that He hears, He listens, and that our prayers are so precious to Him that there is an angel who collects our prayers and places them like incense in a gold bowl right next to His throne!(Psalm141:2,Rev.5:8,8:3-4) I am here to say that He doesn't always give me the answers I am looking for right away or sometimes not at all but He does answer my call and He does reach out to me. I just had to adjust my focus and I found Him.
This is what I want to celebrate and share with you. Specific answers to prayer may take longer to come than we would like but it doesn't mean that He is not hearing us or speaking to us in other ways while we wait for that particular answer. He is full of love for us and promises to be with us in our circumstances right where we are.(Deut. 31:6)
So come with me and celebrate Jesus' love and pursuit of each of us.
So why am I doing this? Well...to declare on my new mountain top how great God is! Years ago when I was in a really difficult season of my life, I was seeing Christ's faithfulness and provision on a regular basis. During this time I just wanted to shout from the mountain tops what He was doing in my life and how faithful He was. But there was no mountain in my corner of the world. Instead I would call a girlfriend and we would shout and cry and share with one another the song that touched our hearts or the verses we had read that answered a prayer or how much we appreciated a message at church or a topic in our weekly Bible study.
Due to the season of life I am in and the relatively new job I am in, regular time with friends isn't as available as it once was. So here is my new mountain top, my new place to sometimes shout for joy or quietly and in awe share how Christ revealed Himself in word or song.
I have heard it said, "My prayers are bouncing off the ceiling," or "When will He answer my prayer? Is He even listening?" This breaks my heart! The Bible tells us over and over again that He hears, He listens, and that our prayers are so precious to Him that there is an angel who collects our prayers and places them like incense in a gold bowl right next to His throne!(Psalm141:2,Rev.5:8,8:3-4) I am here to say that He doesn't always give me the answers I am looking for right away or sometimes not at all but He does answer my call and He does reach out to me. I just had to adjust my focus and I found Him.
This is what I want to celebrate and share with you. Specific answers to prayer may take longer to come than we would like but it doesn't mean that He is not hearing us or speaking to us in other ways while we wait for that particular answer. He is full of love for us and promises to be with us in our circumstances right where we are.(Deut. 31:6)
So come with me and celebrate Jesus' love and pursuit of each of us.
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