Slices
Prepare
‘Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God’ (Philippians 4:6). Offer God your deepest cares and concerns.
Bible passage
For the director of music. For pipes. A psalm of David.
1 Listen to my words, Lord,
consider my lament.
2 Hear my cry for help,
my King and my God,
for to you I pray.
3 In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before you
and wait expectantly.
4 For you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness;
with you, evil people are not welcome.
5 The arrogant cannot stand
in your presence.
You hate all who do wrong;
6 you destroy those who tell lies.
The bloodthirsty and deceitful
you, Lord, detest.
7 But I, by your great love,
can come into your house;
in reverence I bow down
towards your holy temple.
8 Lead me, Lord, in your righteousness
because of my enemies –
make your way straight before me.
9 Not a word from their mouth can be trusted;
their heart is filled with malice.
Their throat is an open grave;
with their tongues they tell lies.
10 Declare them guilty, O God!
Let their intrigues be their downfall.
Banish them for their many sins,
for they have rebelled against you.
11 But let all who take refuge in you be glad;
let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name may rejoice in you.
12 Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous;
you surround them with your favour as with a shield.
Explore
I suspect we have all cried out to God in desperation, maybe even with those words, ‘Are you really there, God?’ I can still feel the raw grief years later, when after several miscarriages I stood on an empty beach in the middle of winter, screaming at God across the waves and into the wind. I didn’t doubt his presence, I hadn’t stopped trusting him, but I was angry and confused. Like the psalmist (vs 1,2), there was an urgency in the prayer, a lament for my situation and a cry for help.
The psalmist’s cry arises from a life of persistent and expectant prayer. Approaching God each morning, the psalmist both lays his requests before God, and ‘waits expectantly’ for God to respond (v 3). Prayer is integral to the psalmist’s relationship with a faithful God, so that when crises arrive, the place of refuge where honest emotions can be revealed is in that place of prayer, in communion with a compassionate God.
The evangelist Billy Graham once said: ‘True prayer is a way of life, not just for use in cases of emergency. Make it a habit, and when the need arises you will be in practice.
Respond
Ask God to show you how you could refresh and reinvigorate your prayer life this coming week.
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Isaiah 43,44; Hebrews 6
Pray for Scripture Union
The SU Global team will be facilitating online collaborative spaces to continue some of the conversations started at the Global Gathering. Pray for the first of these to be held on 25 September, where volunteering in SU will be discussed.
