Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditation. 2 Give heed to the voice of my cry, my King and my God, for to You will I pray. 3 My voice shall You hear in the morning, O Lord, in the morning I will direct it to You, and I will look up. —Psalm 5:1-3
I believe I can say with confidence that we all would like to have a more effectual prayer life. Most of us wonder, “If God already knows what’s going to happen, and if He’s going to do things His way anyway, then why do we even need to pray?”
It’s important to understand why God wants us to pray. First of all, does He hear and answer our prayers? Yes! And yet, in the verses above, David asks the Lord to “consider his meditation” and “give heed to the voice of his cry.” Notice that he respectfully addresses God the first thing in the morning.
In fact, it’s best to preface any endeavor or decision with prayer. Don’t wait to pray until after you’ve tried everything else! Give your concerns to the Lord before you jump in and end up messing up and having to start over again or before you ruin something that you had thought was for good.
David prays with reverence, awe, and expectation. It isn’t a “work.” The spirit of prayer is more important than the practice. In Matthew, Jesus contrasted the hypocrites, who pray publicly, “ . . . that they may be seen by men,” to the way we are encouraged to pray: “Go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father . . . and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And . . . do not use vain repetitions . . . ” (Mt 6:5-7). Sincere, heartfelt prayer is what we see with David. It’s the spirit in which we pray that’s the most important aspect of our prayer.
In summary, if we want to understand, own, and excel at effective prayer, we must pray from our hearts what is in our hearts for the things we believe are in the will of God. And God, who hears our hearts’ cries from heaven, will respond in love.
Excerpt from “Beside Still Waters” now available on Amazon.
