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- Oct 26, 2007
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Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD. Psalm 31:24
Throughout the Psalms, David uses a traditional pattern for prayer to God that Moses, Nehemiah, Hezekiah, Daniel, Ezra, and others used throughout Bible times. This pattern has four distinct elements.
Look up: This is what believers often call praise and worship, especially when your words echo what God has said is true about Himself.
Look down. In confession and repentance, admit how you have failed and fallen short of God’s glory because of how you have disobeyed Him. All great men of God, no matter how badly they’ve failed God, have learned to confess their sins. Keep short accounts and thank God for His forgiveness.
Look up again. Thanksgiving arises out of your faith, hope, and love for God, again based again on what God has said. How often men neglect this essential element of prayer in their eagerness to tell God what they’re thinking. Instead, thank God for what He has told you in His Word.
Look down again. Cry out for God to act as He has promised He will for believers. Don’t cry out for God to do what you alone want, need, and desire. Instead, humbly ask God to do what scripture says God already wants to do.
Prayer: Lord, transform me. Transform my prayers. May I echo the words of the psalmists and prophets, following their examples as I pray to You.
Throughout the Psalms, David uses a traditional pattern for prayer to God that Moses, Nehemiah, Hezekiah, Daniel, Ezra, and others used throughout Bible times. This pattern has four distinct elements.
Look up: This is what believers often call praise and worship, especially when your words echo what God has said is true about Himself.
Look down. In confession and repentance, admit how you have failed and fallen short of God’s glory because of how you have disobeyed Him. All great men of God, no matter how badly they’ve failed God, have learned to confess their sins. Keep short accounts and thank God for His forgiveness.
Look up again. Thanksgiving arises out of your faith, hope, and love for God, again based again on what God has said. How often men neglect this essential element of prayer in their eagerness to tell God what they’re thinking. Instead, thank God for what He has told you in His Word.
Look down again. Cry out for God to act as He has promised He will for believers. Don’t cry out for God to do what you alone want, need, and desire. Instead, humbly ask God to do what scripture says God already wants to do.
Prayer: Lord, transform me. Transform my prayers. May I echo the words of the psalmists and prophets, following their examples as I pray to You.
