Praying With Purpose

PRAYING WITH PURPOSE-- PSALMS 5:1-12

Introduction: Those who believe in and practice set forms of prayer can find no justification for such in the Book of Psalms. There is a complete disregard for mechanical praying throughout the book. When you have a burning concern, praying come from the heart and not the head. It gets straight to the point and reveals the need without regard to words and phrases. Much modern-day praying is merely “saying” our prayers, as do little children when they first learn, “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the lord my soul to keep.”

The Psalmist knew how to pray because he prayed: early, audibly, thoughtfully, earnestly, orderly, daily, expectantly, reverently, and wisely. In this Psalm his prayer begins with words, deepens into sighs, and rises into cries. He prayed with purpose.

When studying the Psalms you will notice that the subject of many of the psalms is the contrast between the Righteous and the wicked. There is a difference in their position, practice and prospect. The same is true in the fifth Psalm. Here we see a strong contrast between the ungodly and the godly. The difference in this chapter is in their TALK (vs. 1-7), and their WALK (vs. 8-12).

The occasion of the Psalm is in a time of trouble. Soul searching prayer is always the best help in troubled time. To many times we try to figure out our on problems when all the while God is wanting us to come to him. We have to be backed into a corner with no way out but up before we get excited about praying. This makes us lose alot of battles before we ever start. More spiritual battles are won on your knees in prayer than on your feet in combat. It’s like the discouraged preacher said, “The devil has driven me to my knees and he will regret that.” We are at our strongest when we are on our knees. I want to show you three things out of this chapter.

I. THE REQUEST OF DAVID TO GOD - Vs. 1-3 David makes a plea to God. David was in a time of persecution and discouragement. Aren’t you glad that we have a God that we can go to in times of trouble.

A. His Prayer was Personal

1. The possessive pronoun “my” is found 7 times in the first 3 verses.

2. Too many times we pray as if God were so distant object in outer space so we float up a prayer to him.

3. God is a person. God is a person that lives inside us. He is personal so our prayers should be personal.

4. There is no need to try and impress God with our prayers. Just talk to him as if he were standing right beside

you.

B. His Prayer was Passionate

1. Prevailing prayer comes from a full heart that erupts into tears.

2. The Psalmist wasn’t just killing time or going through a ritual. He was dead earnest.

3. Earnest praying will lead to effective praying.

4. Earnest praying is praying with desire.

a. Desire is not merely a simple wish, it is a deep seated craving. It is an intense longing, for attainment.

b. Desire goes before prayer. In fact prayer is created and intensified by desire.

c. The deeper the desire the stronger the prayer.

d. Without desire, prayer is a meaningless mumble of words. This type of formal praying with no heart is a

waste of precious time and should be shunned like a pestilence.

e. Without desire there is no burden of soul, no sense of need, no visions, no holding on to God with a desperate grip.

f. We need to be like Jacob when he said, “I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.”

g. If we have that desire, we have a promise in the word of God that tell us the results. “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

C. His Prayer was Pointed

1. “For unto thee will I pray”

2. He came boldly to the throne of Grace.

D. His Prayer was Prospective

1. When David prayed here, he expected an answer.

2. He looked up in expectation for that which he prayed.

II. THE REPUGNANCE OF GOD TOWARDS THE WICKED - Vs. 4-6

A. God Displeasure in the Wicked - vs. 4

B. God’s Disgust in the Wicked - vs. 6b

C. God’s Destruction of the Wicked - vs. 5-6a

III. THE RELATION OF GOD TO THE SAINTS - Vs. 7-12

A. God is our Shepherd - vs. 8

1. Notice the words “lead me”

2. That’s the attitude of an obedient sheep.

3. There’s nothing that our shepherd loves more than for us just to trust him