Psalms As Prayer
God is Great, God is Good
Let us thank Him for our food. Amen
Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
If I should Die before I wake, I pray the Lord my Soul to take. God Bless Mommy, Daddy, Grand ma, Grand Pa, The dog, the cat …..Amen
Prayers of children, I guess I like to think that God enjoys them the most. They can be so honest and open.
We teach our children to pray. When they are little. “Put your hands together, bow your head, Close your eyes.
We teach the smallest of children to show a reverence for God in their prayer times.
We teach them simple prayers handed down for generations. The meal prayer come form medieval times and it has not changed in form perhaps because f it’s simplicity.
It teaches through repetition three things.
God is Great - A big concept for children and adults alike. I think it is much easier for a small child to understand a Great God because they understand that almost everyone they know is greater and more powerful than they are. We all grow into a level if questioning independence which makes our view of God more complex.
God is Good – An important fact the offers all of us comfort. If a great God is bad or harsh or evil then we are all in big trouble. Again, a child’s concept of God’s goodness will come form their environment, what is the family like. As Adults we often question God’s goodness.
Thank him for our food – God provides. This statement indicates ultimately where food comes from. In mid evil times the children may have been the ones to tend the garden and animal and know the complete history of the vegetable or meat they are eating but the prayer teaches that God is ultimately responsible.
The bed time prayer…the more I look at it the more I wonder what kind of fear did the writer want to give children?
That child hood prayer is also stamped in my memory.
As a bed time prayer, I think it is pretty scary. The idea that I might not wake up in the morning. It brings the If you died tonight question to the bed side of small children. But, most don’t really here it do they. If is simple repetition memorized form a loving parent. The words may not mean much.
A couple were our shopping and found a wall hanging of the Now I lay me down to sleep prayer and bought it for their son’s room. They hung it on the wall over his bed and waited for a response.
As the son knelt by the bed to say his prayer and seeing the new decoration, said, “Well God, There it is” and hopped into bed.
For some people, their prayer life is as simple as that. Lord, we are thought that you know everything about us. So answer my prayers, fill my desires and my needs.
We all pray different depending on how life is going …Right?
When things are going well we probably pray a lot less that when things are painful and hard. When the loved one is in the hospital and the test are not good…don’t we do more praying without ceasing?
For humans, especially Christian, prayer should be as normal as breathing. But science and technology make us struggle with some of the hardest questions of life. Like why doesn’t a loving God answer our prayers offered in pain and suffering…to the world it means that there is not God.
Prayer requires faith and faith tells us that we are not just talking to ourselves when we pray.
Prayer is probably the most comforting part of religion in general. The idea is common to all religions but not everyone has a communication channel with God. For many the act of ritual prayer several times a day reciting memorized phrases is a way of appeasing God for his blessing. It is the act of worship that brings blessing.
As Christians we believe that our prayers are heard by God. But I am not sure that we all really believe that God is willing to answer our prayers. Some believe that Every thing has been set up by God and will all happen according to his plan so, prayer as not affect...I can’t change anything.
As adults we sometimes think that it is important to say the right words in order to get God to act. We use catch phrases and memorized perhaps for confidence or maybe searching for the magic words to get God’s attention.
But, it is not the words that are important. Romans 8:26 -27
26In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.
When things are really painful, hopeless, beyond our personal comprehension. The spirit will speak for us….I believe that it also speaks when we just feel lost or overwhelmed with the busyness of our lives.
When we feel overwhelmed, can we find the words to pray?
We have been taking a few weeks to look at the psalms and today I want to remind you that they can be a resource for assurance.
When I have trouble I take comfort in the reminder that we have a big God. A small god could never really help me… I need a big God that knows me and understands me, a God that really cares for me, a God that guides and hears me.
How do you feel about the idea that God knows everything about you….Is it comforting? Or does it cause you just a little fear.
I think we often forget that there is nothing we can do to avoid the presence of God. We might ignore it and avoid it.
Today our psalm for meditation is numbered 139. It is a personal favorite of mine and I believe it speaks for me and for God.
Will you close your eyes and listen to the scripture:
Psalm 139
For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.
1 O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD.
5 You hem me in—behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,"
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.
13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake, I am still with you.
19 If only you would slay the wicked, O God!
Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!
20 They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD,
and abhor those who rise up against you?
22 I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
This Psalm is a prayer of recognition of the closeness of God to our lives.
Written by King David…He had some stuff to hide didn’t he?
As we have talked about the psalms I have pointed out that as poetry they can bring emotion to us from the original author. We often find that we share the feelings in our relationship with God. Awe and wonder expressed in Psalm 8.
In times of trouble we can find comfort in the psalms. Our enemies may be health or situations in our lives that are beyond our ability to control. We may feel like the world is dark and a form of living death imminent.
The psalms remind us of the salvation offered to us. That God is the source of light and power. He knows us and our situations and he is always present even when we think he is not responding to our needs…prayers.
The psalms can build our faith by reminding us of the majestic nature of our creator. They can also speak to our flaws and encourage us to be open to god’s work in our hearts, minds and lives to become something new as he can lead us to righteousness, holiness and eternity in the presence of God.
Are you praying to a big God or just talking to yourself?
Are you really listening for His answer, his direction?
