Psalm 5:3 (NASB)
3 In the morning, O LORD, You will hear my voice;
In the morning I will order my prayer to You
and eagerly watch.
I often enter the presence of God with a list. Prayer should be a conversation. It should be filled with expectation. It isn't a shopping list. Yet, I pray asking God for things I would like to see or those requests given to me from others. Most of the time I pray without any clue whether or not God will grant my requests.
I don't believe in formulas. God answers prayers out of His divine will. I don't have to know why He answers one and not the other. He is the sovereign God. Who am I to judge what He does? I can't say my prayers in a way which forces His to act as I have desired. I can't shame Him into answering them in a way I deem righteous.
So, I pray with expectation. I watch. If God chooses to seemingly ignore my prayers, then praise be to God. If He choses to answer in a different way, then praise be to God.
However, there are some times when I know what He will do. He reveals it to me. I wait for Him to do as He says. I have watched. He has spoken. I believe. Thus, there are times when the watching is much more than looking to see what God will do. Sometimes watching is seeing God do.
How important is it for me to pray and watch? I don't understand those who never watch. They simply say words with no expectation that anyone hears them. They believe more in circumstances that in divine providence. I watch because I have an expectation that God will answer. I watch because I have made a request and do not know what the answer will be. I watch because He always does what is righteous and best.
So, on this morning I pray and eagerly watch. What will you do today, Lord? I know it will be great.
3 comments:
This--> " I can't say my prayers in a way which forces His to act as I have desired. I can't shame Him into answering them in a way I deem righteous." is a truth that is too often drowned out by those who speak "faith in Him" but mean "control by us."
Faith is not formula...it's an expectant trust in the only One who truly has control.
I nodded all thru this post.
Deb
Why do I pray? Why do some others not pray? Why do some of us pray, but not wait in anticipation?
Why I pray? When I pray for help, it is because a) I need help from God; b) I believe He is capable of providing the help; and c) I believe He will help.
I need help from God; maybe some others, they do not feel they need help, from God, or not yet; or they think they ought to tackle everything themselves.
Both extremes are not ideal - everything we want help from God when we could help ourselves easily when we are already endowed, is not appropriate; also not appropriate is to think we are capable of achieving by our own effort, no need of God's help. Even when we can accomplish a task, doing it with wisdom of and from God is still better than we simply do things independent of God. I think when we think we do not need God's help at all, we are just being proud. Appropriate effort on our part, is usually expected by God; the attitude of, "God to provide the food and still have to eat it for us", is wrong, if not, plain laziness or irresponsibility.
When I need help, I also believe God is capable of providing the help. If ones does not think God is capable, he probably won't pray. Even when he prays, he is probably doing it without sincerity. For example, when one is put into a group and the group is asked to pray, such a person will pray because he is "pressurized" to pray, for everyone is expected to pray! It is when one is on his own, that is the time to know if he prays or not.
Then there are those who believe God is capable, but do not think God will help. I pray because I believe God will help; if you don't, you probably won't pray. Even if you do, how sincere are you? When we pray, we are to be of faith, instead of with doubts. When we doubt, either because we do not think God is capable or that He would help, we will not wait in anticipation. Some of us, worse still, doubt if God would hear us; we sure won't pray when we do not think God hears us! We have to believe God hears us, and will help.
Now if you think, "Yah, God will help Ps Prentis, but not me-lah", you have a problem; you got to deal with that; have it worked out until your inferiority is off. Talk to someone who can help to shake off the inferiority or help you to deal with the things that you are holding out as preventing you from enjoying what Ps Prentis enjoys. I am not saying, there is no such thing as, some people are with "more favor" from God, in certain areas or season of time; at the same time, things happen or don't happen, is usually NOT without realm or reason, although we may not know God's reason of acting or not acting. When we get right with God, and that does not mean that we need to be a pastor like Ps Prentis, we can expect God to hear our prayer and act (or not act) in our interest.
Cont...
Cont. From above
Whether we pray or not, amongst other things, shows how much we know, correctly, our God. Of course, when we pray, it is not always that we are asking things from God for ourselves, or for others; we can be thanking Him, praising Him, simply sharing a conversation with God, just like we would share a conversation with our loved one. And when we talk about how much we know our God, we are also referring, whether we pray or not, is indicative of the depth of our relationship with God. If you don't know much of God, how deep is your relationship with God? If we pray, but we don't wait in anticipation, are we regarding God more worse than a stranger! For even a stranger, at times, we do expect the stranger to help us.
When our spouses do not respond to us, what do we do? We have to be bothered to examine ourselves and ask if there has been anything that we done or not done that has displeased our beloved. Sure, we cannot comprehend fully the thoughts and plans of God, still, if we would examine ourselves in our relation with our spouses, how much more must we also examine ourselves to see if we have displeased our God. When we do know the problem, we are to get back right with God, just as we would get back right with our spouses; and when we have gotten right again, we should walk confidently (but humbly) once again, with our God. Pray and wait eagerly or in anticipation.
Anthony Chia, high.expressions
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