Praying in the will of God.
Last week we looked at whole idea of reflecting on the words of scripture using divine reading or lectio divina. The passage of scripture that I brought was a prayer that was in itself a response to God’s answering prayer.
King David was lifted from the slippery place where he was stuck in mud and mire and was set on a firm place on a rock. No longer insecure but found firm, secure.
I asked that you look at this passage using this “divine reading” and we’ve already had some responses to meditation on this passage. Thanks for taking the sermon last week seriously to the point of meditating on the word. I hope that if you’ve found this a useful exercise that you continue engaging in this way with the scriptures of both testaments.
I’ve had a few interesting learnings myself this week and I’d like to share a couple of them with you.
David says this in verse nine of Psalm 40. “ I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly. I do not seal my lips, as you know O Lord. Do not hide your righteousness in my heart; I speak of your faithfulness and salvation. I do not conceal your love and your truth from the great assembly.”
I’m happy to hold these verses as my own. I really enjoy telling others of the greatness of God, why? Because he has taken me from some situations that might otherwise held me captive to events, to sin that would most likely have destroyed me, if not physically, spiritually. I am more than happy to proclaim the righteousness of God and tell alone that God is good.
But does this result in constant smooth sailing? Not really, but the change comes, the realisation comes, as I said last week; I cannot just see the light reflected, shimmering, but live in eternal relationship with the light, for Jesus is the Light of the World. We no longer just have to hear songs but can sing a new song of praise to God for what he has done! There is a shift that occurs…not just understanding that there is a God, but interacting with God, understanding that as imperfect a being as I am, I can stand accepted because of God’s grace.
I’ve discovered that God’s goodness often goes beyond my human understanding, beyond what I would expect. I think King David was in the same place when he went through the mud and mire of Psalm 40. His prayer is this “Do not without your mercy from me, O Lord, may your love and your truth always protect me. For troubles without number surround me, and I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails within me.” It’s almost like this last part of the Psalm is in reference to what God saved King David from that mud and mire that he referred to at the start of the Psalm. How did the Psalm start? “I waited patiently for the Lord for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire.” I waited patiently, what is that about?
Personally I get so impatient; my prayers are “now God now” and “Lord if there are any who are thinking of coming to the service, to any service prompt them to move Lord now!” If you have been in the prayer meetings before the service you can vouch for that. I think Psalm 40 may have a personal message for me; it’s my own fault for I’ve previously prayed for patience. With people like me God id good, God is merciful.
God is good. David cried out for mercy. We know from what he has said that he received continued to receive mercy, we all do. God saved David form that slippery place. Interestingly it is a characteristic of God to be merciful. David did not have the advantage we have in knowing some other scriptures, for instance God says through Isaiah, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10).
But David understood the merciful nature of God, what he was praying for would be answered, maybe David would have to be patient in receiving the act of being lifted up. It doesn’t look like it happened overnight, but it did happen. The protection that God brought was not all physical David asked this, “may your love and your truth always protect me?” He wasn’t asking for soldiers and armour he was asking for this very characteristics of God to protect him, love and truth. As we become more like Christ we too can have this protection. You see, if we are walking in the will of God, seeking after his will for our lives, our prayers will be in rhythm with his will. We will get what we pray for. It is like the character of God envelopes us the fruits of the Holy Spirit become our characteristics. If you ever wonder if the Holy Spirit is at work in your life look back at who you were before you started on that journey with Jesus.
We may even discover blessings in other ways than we perceived or desired. We may think at times our prayers are not being answered, I’ve prayed prayers like this, “Lord I struggle with those who ignore you, who deny you, do something to show them Lord” and “It’s so hard Lord give me an easy day, make this task easier!” God answers prayers like these, as I look back on them these were quite selfish prayers. He answers them but not always but not always as we believe he would. A Lady by the name of Annie Flint wrote a song about it, it goes like this:
He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength when the labours increase,
To added affliction He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace.
His love has no limit, His grace has no measure,
When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half-done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources,
Our Father’s full giving is only begun.
His power no boundary known unto men,
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus,
He giveth and giveth and giveth again.
The thing with God is that he desires people of character and strength not people who want it all easy, we struggle with sin, with the folly of the world, God desires people who overcome in those struggles. Does God say it’s all good I’m going to make life a breeze, it’s going to be all tea and biscuits. Was this the life Jesus lived, is this what he did for the apostles, haven’t congregations in their masses suffered for the freedom they found in Christ, that eternal freedom and knowledge of the Spirit of Christ residing with them, the knowledge that they walked in and as the light of the world. Their prayers were answered when they were walking their earthly journeys, for they were living in God’s will so much so that the worldly powers wanted them destroyed as they brought an understanding of the grace and love of God to many in such a way that we understand it today. Their prayers were answered as God poured out his grace on them, out of His infinite riches in Jesus, He gave and gave and gave again.
In a sermon preached in Bristol in England, in 1740, John Wesley said,
“Grace is free in all to whom it is given. It does not depend on any power or merit in man; no, not in any degree, neither in whole, nor in part. It does not in anywise depend either on the good works or righteousness of the receiver; not on anything he has done, or anything he is. It does not depend on his endeavours. It does not depend on his good tempers, or good desires, or good purposes and intentions; for all these flow from the free grace of God…God is the author and doer of it. Thus is his grace free in all; that is, no way depending on any power or merit in man, but on God alone.”
King David received that grace of God that set him in a firm place, that free gift, that unmerited favour, obviously he still had his struggles, but he was saved. We too, as we respond, as we cry out to the Lord are heard, in the some there is awe at where they are found in the Lord and their witness is great, bringing others to the throne of grace. Into that eternal relationship with God the Father as his Holy Spirit is sent to us.
I long to see many come to Jesus in awe of what God does, as I pray that the will of God be done it will be as it is his will that none shall perish but come to eternal life in Christ Jesus.
Will you pray that God’s will be done in your lives? Will you be willing to live lives that encounter God’s mercy and grace. Will you pray knowing that you are in a rhythm of pray that will be answered for it is prayed knowing that his kingdom will come to earth because of it? Will you live to see God glorified?
If so?
