An Everyday Prayer

An Everyday Prayer

The Psalms are the longest book in the Bible. They are located in the Old Testament, contain 150 chapters, and were written by more than 4 different people. Psalm 25 was penned by King David. David was a “man after God’s own heart”, Acts 13:22. In Psalm 25:4-5 David writes “Show me Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day”. In these two verses David is giving us an example of a prayer that we should be praying in our lives every day.

First, he is asking God to show him His ways. This is something that everybody occasionally questions. Let’s be honest. We have all at some point asked, “Why God?”. Even the great prophets at times questioned God’s ways. Jonah questioned God’s ways and ended up taking a ride in the belly of a whale. Moses questioned God’s ways, thinking there was no way he could do all of what He was asking him to do. It is pretty safe to say that God’s ways are not generally our ways. The important thing to remember is that when we put our faith and trust in Him, all things will turn out o.k. in the end. The Lord’s ways are always the right ways.

David then goes on to pray “...teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me”. Here we are shown not to only ask the Lord to show us His ways, but also to teach us His paths. Have you ever heard the saying “Give a man a fish, feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime.”? By us learning the paths and precepts of God’s ways, we draw closer to Him and begin to lead holier lives. When we ask Him, He will teach us the correct paths to choose in life. The Apostle James tells us “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” James 1:5. As we ask for God to teach us, we must be ready for the truths that He reveals to us. More often than not He shows us a part of our lives that needs to be changed. One change for me had to do with music. I love music. Before I was married and had children, I was even in a few different bands. I can honestly listen to just about anything you put on the radio or in the CD player and find something I like about it. Or at least I can find some way to appreciate it. I truly love all types of music. I say all that because in my walk with God, as I have prayed and asked Him to show me how to live a more holy life, He revealed to me that I needed to “give up” a certain type of music. This was a big deal for me because music truly touches me deeply. But what I learned in the end was that this type of music was, in certain ways, keeping me from that closer walk with God that I desired so much.

The last two lines of verse 5 read “For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day.” The Psalmist David ends this verse with two very important points. The first is that God is our Salvation. He gives this great gift to us through the life, death, and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. In God’s mercy and love, He sent His Son to come to Earth and die for our sins. Most of us are at least familiar with John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life”. Through God’s way and the path that Jesus walked, we are given the great gift of salvation. The second point is about waiting. Waiting requires patience, which is something that we all run short on at some point. Waiting on the Lord is not the same as waiting for the waitress to bring you your food in a restaurant. The Lord does not operate by the same concept of time as we do. In 2 Peter 3:9 we read “But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day”. Now does that mean that it takes 1000 years for Him to answer our prayers? Absolutely not. When it comes to waiting on the Lord, we must have faith and patience to know that God will always come through for us at the correct moment. God is never late; He is always right on time. God will surely accomplish all His purposes and promises, although at times He may appear slow at doing so. His timing is always perfect. Isaiah 40:31 reads “But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint”.