How would you like your prayers to be written down and revealed for all to read? Hearing a man at prayer and hearing what he is saying in prayer is most significant and revealing.
In Psalm 17, we read of this powerful leader, David, praying these words, "Hear O Lord my righteous plea".
David was a man who prayed and prayed.
From the earliest knowledge we have about him, we know he was a man who praised and prayed and sang and wrote songs for praise and worship.
He knew His God. David prayed that God would give ear to his prayer and listen to his cry. He assumed his prayer was right and righteous, and that should give us confidence when we come to pray. His prayer did not come from deceitful lips, but from lips that were sincere. There is no guile in his mouth. He speaks as if under oath. It is like the scene in a courtroom, as he pleads and prays for justice. This is a personal cry for justice and we all require justice, but coupled with mercy.
As we read through the Psalms and as we consider aspects of the life of David, we see that a man of God can get into a lot of trouble, and that in the world he does not have it easy. But we also see that the man of God can bring all his trouble to the Lord God Almighty in prayer.
Sometimes we are told the details and on other occasions we do not need to know.
David, in his need, comes to God in prayer. He does not go complaining to all his friends about his problems, and he does not go telling everyone what a hard time he was having. He tells God, and God tells us through these Psalms.
We learn of the hardships in the life of these early disciples of Jesus because the Holy Spirit had someone write it all down, to inform and illumine and teach us what is involved in being a real disciple of Jesus Christ, and we have here something of the reality of it all.
David cries out as he pleads, and on occasion he weeps. The king weeps! He is not afraid nor ashamed nor embarrassed to reveal all this. There is such openness and such reality in the prayers recorded in the Psalms. This is spiritual life as it really is!
Real prayer is not just talk but can be tears, because it is the work of concerned hearts.
David was not ashamed to weep openly and lay bare his pained heart, and God does not hide that from us.
Sandy Shaw
Sandy Shaw is Pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship, Chaplain at Inverness Prison, and Nairn Academy, and serves on The Children's Panel in Scotland, and has travelled extensively over these past years teaching, speaking, in America, Canada, South Africa, Australia, making 12 visits to Israel conducting Tours and Pilgrimages, and most recently in Uganda and Kenya, ministering at Pastors and Leaders Seminars, in the poor areas surrounding Kampala, Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu.
He broadcasts regularly on WSHO radio out of New Orleans, and writes a weekly commentary at http://www.studylight.org entitled "Word from Scotland" on various biblical themes, as well as a weekly newspaper column.
In Psalm 17, we read of this powerful leader, David, praying these words, "Hear O Lord my righteous plea".
David was a man who prayed and prayed.
From the earliest knowledge we have about him, we know he was a man who praised and prayed and sang and wrote songs for praise and worship.
He knew His God. David prayed that God would give ear to his prayer and listen to his cry. He assumed his prayer was right and righteous, and that should give us confidence when we come to pray. His prayer did not come from deceitful lips, but from lips that were sincere. There is no guile in his mouth. He speaks as if under oath. It is like the scene in a courtroom, as he pleads and prays for justice. This is a personal cry for justice and we all require justice, but coupled with mercy.
As we read through the Psalms and as we consider aspects of the life of David, we see that a man of God can get into a lot of trouble, and that in the world he does not have it easy. But we also see that the man of God can bring all his trouble to the Lord God Almighty in prayer.
Sometimes we are told the details and on other occasions we do not need to know.
David, in his need, comes to God in prayer. He does not go complaining to all his friends about his problems, and he does not go telling everyone what a hard time he was having. He tells God, and God tells us through these Psalms.
We learn of the hardships in the life of these early disciples of Jesus because the Holy Spirit had someone write it all down, to inform and illumine and teach us what is involved in being a real disciple of Jesus Christ, and we have here something of the reality of it all.
David cries out as he pleads, and on occasion he weeps. The king weeps! He is not afraid nor ashamed nor embarrassed to reveal all this. There is such openness and such reality in the prayers recorded in the Psalms. This is spiritual life as it really is!
Real prayer is not just talk but can be tears, because it is the work of concerned hearts.
David was not ashamed to weep openly and lay bare his pained heart, and God does not hide that from us.
Sandy Shaw
Sandy Shaw is Pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship, Chaplain at Inverness Prison, and Nairn Academy, and serves on The Children's Panel in Scotland, and has travelled extensively over these past years teaching, speaking, in America, Canada, South Africa, Australia, making 12 visits to Israel conducting Tours and Pilgrimages, and most recently in Uganda and Kenya, ministering at Pastors and Leaders Seminars, in the poor areas surrounding Kampala, Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu.
He broadcasts regularly on WSHO radio out of New Orleans, and writes a weekly commentary at http://www.studylight.org entitled "Word from Scotland" on various biblical themes, as well as a weekly newspaper column.
RSS Feed