CRYING OUT TO GOD

CRYING OUT TO GOD

READ:
Psalm 142

By prayer and supplication...
let your requests be made
know to God. -Philippians 4:6

After all these years, I still don't fully understand prayer.  It's something of a mystery to me.  But one thing I know:  When we're in desperate need, prayer springs naturally from our lips and from the deepest level of our hearts.

When we're frightened out of our wits, when we're pushed beyond our limits, when we're pulled out of our comfort zones, when our well-being is challenged and endangered, we reflexively and involuntarily resort to prayer.  "Help, Lord!" is our natural cry.

Author Eugene Peterson wrote:  "The language of prayer is forged in the crucible of trouble.  When we can't help ourselves and call for help, when we don't like where we are and want out, when we don't like who we are and want a change, we use primal language, and this language becomes the root language of prayer."

Prayer begins in trouble, and it continues because we're always in trouble at some level.  It requires no special preparation, no precise vocabulary, no appropriate posture.  It springs from us in the face of necessity and, in time, becomes our habitual response to every issue - good and bad-we face in this life (Philippians 4:6).  What a privilege it is to carry everything to God in prayer! - David Roper

What a Friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer. - Scriven
********************************
God's help is only a prayer away.

INSIGHT
The superscript of this psalm says, "A prayer when [David] was in the cave."  Most likely the psalm was composed in the mind of David when he was fleeing the terrible homicidal rage of King Saul (1 Samuel 22:1-2).  This crisis experience caused David to cry out to God.  But troubles are not unique to David.  His psalms speak with a new voice to each subsequent generation.  Life, even for the obedient believer, has its times of trouble and concern.  This psalm shows that God hears our prayers of complaint and petition as well as those of praise.

Have a blessed day and weekend.
God Our Creator's Love Always
Unity & Peace