Pray Like David

I had always thought that Psalms in the Bible was another book like all the others.  You know, all about God and stuff.  But I heard a few years ago something that really made me think about this book in a whole new light.  And honestly, I felt really dumb for not putting my finger on it earlier.   All the other books in the Bible are about God relating to man or mankind.  But the book of Psalms is a glimpse into how man relates to God.  That is amazing.  In this book we get to see the struggles, pain, heartache, joy and peace of a man's personally prayers to God - sometimes all of those emotions come in the same Psalm!  

There are like four parts of David's Psalm that I think are really great and would be good if we could incorporate in our own prayers.  

The first six verses are a recount of great things that God had done, routing enemies and destroying strongholds.  David is recounting some of the great acts of God in his life.  Sometimes we forget that God has done some incredible things in our lives and recounting them actually help us realize just how great God really is.  Like remembering a kindness done to us by a spouse.  It's a sweet memory and in David's case got him thinking about the next part of his prayer.

The next section up to verse 10 is a natural next step for David.  He first recounted some of God's accomplishment and now he saying, you haven't just done great things, YOU ARE GREAT!  Just and powerful and a stronghold for those who run to Him.  We must remember that God is our strength and our refuge, in Him we can fully trust.  He IS power.  He IS mercy.  He IS love.  Count on Him.

Because God is so great and He has done great things it is completely appropriate that we seek for everyone to have eyes to see this incredible God we serve.  So David takes the next several verses, through 14, to say, EVERYONE should know God and proclaim His greatness and lift their eyes to Him for help.  We should also pray for those far from God that they would know how much He loves them and cares for them and desires for them to find purpose and fulfillment and peace in Him alone.

The last section is David getting really practical, those far from God need to come to a place where they recognize their need for God, realize Him AS God and humble themselves or they will lose their fight with Him because, after all, He is God.

So I suggest, at least sometimes, fitting these aspects of David's prayer into your own.  

Recount God's mighty acts in your own life - this will help you remember and set your focus.

Recognize God for who He is - sometimes we lose our awe for God but every person who has been in His presence has done the same thing, fall in fearful worship.

Reconcile, or at least pray that your friends and family far from God would be reconciled to Him through Jesus, that they would "lift their eyes" and see Him for who He is.

Realize that there are those who will not see or cannot see, they will be lost unless God intervenes on their behalf.  Pray that happens in whatever way necessary.

Most importantly, pray.  Remember it's not so much the how or following a plan, it's a conversation - but sometimes we have to reminded who were talking to and why.  Pray on.