“Bend down, O Lord, and hear my prayer; answer me, for I need your help. Protect me, for I am devoted to you. Save me, for I serve you and trust you. You are my God. Be merciful to me, O Lord, for I am calling on you constantly. Give me happiness, O Lord, for I give myself to you. O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive, so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help. Listen closely to my prayer, O Lord; hear my urgent cry. I will call to you whenever I’m in trouble, and you will answer me. No pagan god is like you, O Lord. None can do what you do! All the nations you made will come and bow before you, Lord; they will praise your holy name. For you are great and perform wonderful deeds. You alone are God. Teach me your ways, O Lord, that I may live according to your truth! Grant me purity of heart, so that I may honor you. With all my heart I will praise you, O Lord my God. I will give glory to your name forever, for your love for me is very great. You have rescued me from the depths of death. O God, insolent people rise up against me; a violent gang is trying to kill me. You mean nothing to them. But you, O Lord, are a God of compassion and mercy, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness. Look down and have mercy on me. Give your strength to your servant; save me, the son of your servant. Send me a sign of your favor. Then those who hate me will be put to shame, for you, O Lord, help and comfort me.”
Psalms 86:1-17 NLT
How do we pray? What do we say about God? What do we say about ourselves? What do we affirm about the nature of things and our relationship to it? For many prayer is just a series of commands. For others it is a series of self affirming rhetorical statements. For most, no matter how sincere they might be, prayer is a one sided event. For David, prayer is a conversation. In some ways, he speaks for both sides. In others, he is truly waiting expectantly for God’s answer to become evident in reality. In all cases his prayer is an expression of a real relationship that has two sides. He knows that he lives in his father’s world and that he has a role to play in it. Too much prayer doesn’t include this element. It is not truly conversant. It is one sided. It is the equivalent of sending a message to God but not waiting for his response. When we ought to pray, we ought to incorporate more of this ideology into them. We ought to ask God to explain things to us. Not out of a spirit of rebellion or entitlement. Instead we ask from a spirit of true partnership. We ask because we genuinely care what God has to say and we believe he will respond.
JOSH McGARY.COM 