Source of Change

Proverbs 13:17 (BES) A rash king shall fall into mischief: but a wise messenger shall deliver him.

I like the way the LXX puts this verse.  It gives us a target for our prayer lives.  It reinforces something that I have been doing on occasion and that is, when I pray for the president, I pray that his advisors would have their act together.  Many times a person in leadership has to make decisions, but he can’t know everything.  He has to rely on the information other people bring him and the opinions they express.

That means it would behoove us to pray for the people surrounding the president or your governor or even your congressman.  Pray that they are wise.  Pray that they give the right direction.

So?  While you’re at it, you might even pray for yourself and the people around you.  On one side, you might be that messenger, on the other, you might need to be the one who is listening.  

Schooled on Prayer

(Mat 6:9 KJV)  After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

(Proverbs 9 also read)

I would assume that most people would recognize this beginning to what is called the Lord’s Prayer.  Take a moment and see if you can recite it.  It is also found in Luke 11:2.  

Most of us have a goal to talking to God, praying, on a regular basis.  Also most of us don’t live up to that as we would.  It is a common problem.  Paul tells us to pray without ceasing.  To take that literally would make most of life impossible if we pray in the way the pastor does on Sunday morning.  Fortunately Jesus gives us more specific guidance.

I think that what Jesus does not mention is as important as what He does.  He does not mention prayers for health.  He does not mention our concerns for our nation or its leaders.  He does not mention our families.  That does not mean we ignore them.  Think of it as more a priority list than an inclusive list.

So?  Set aside all the books you have on how to pray and spend some time in the school that Jesus left us in two gospels.  

Prayer Request

Proverbs 20:26 (KJV) A wise king scattereth the wicked, and bringeth the wheel over them.

We don’t have kings but we have people in authority. It occurred to me that this would be a good prayer request for those people. You do pray for the president, governor, members of congress and so forth, don’t you?  Of course you do.  This will help target those prayers and make them less general.

It is important to appoint and nominate the right people. What this is reminding us of is that it is also important to winnow the wicked.  Pray that the president will get rid of people who are not living up to expectations.

So?  Pray for discernment and action.  

A Timely Request

Psalm 147:6 (KJV) The LORD lifteth up the meek: he casteth the wicked down to the ground.

(Proverbs 25 also read)

As we look at the things happening in the world, we see a lot of evil.  We see a lot of wickedness and wicked individuals who are pushing their agenda.  At times it seems like the country is on the verge of breaking out in violence from both sides not just from one.  People feel like sometimes the only way they can defend themselves is to get a bigger club and start swinging.

We should be doing something else.  We should be seeking God to be casting the wicked down.  We have evidence in Psalms that God deals harshly with those who live in rebellion and who support evil.  We need to make this a focus of our prayers.  Of course we would pray for their redemption.  The ultimate answer is for them to get saved and get their life together.  Along with that, though, we need to ask God to step in and work as well on these people that are spitting in His face and on His people.

So?  Don’t wait until the last minute.  Prayer is not our last resort, or it shouldn’t be.  We should be starting on this now.  Pray for a victory of justice and righteousness, and the destruction of evil.   

The Right Focus

Psalm 143:1 (KJV) [[A Psalm of David.]] Hear my prayer, O LORD, give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness.

(Proverbs 21 also read)

Later on in this Psalm, David will be asking for God’s protection, but even more important he will be asking that God would lead him in the paths of righteousness.  He’s not only concerned about his outward being, but also his inward being.

We need to start with these kinds of requests by the insight that he gives us in this first verse.  Our expectation of God answering us is not based on our eloquence, vocabulary or education.  It is based on His faithfulness.

So?  When you pray a prayer of faith, it’s not so much faith that God is going to answer your prayer but faith in His character.  

Points of Peace

Psalm 122:6 (KJV) Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.

(Proverbs 22 also read)

People like to quote this as a paraphrase by saying, “Pray for Israel.”  It’s a wonderful thought.  We should pray for Israel.  We should also pray for the United States.  We should pray for Europe.  There are lots of places that we should pray for.  Here specifically we are told to pray for the peace of Jerusalem.  Wonderful.  Do it.

Notice also the second part of this.  There’s a promise of prosperity and God’s blessing but notice whom that promise is toward.  It is towards those that love Him.  Now when you pray for Israel, or Jerusalem, keep in mind that God is not in the business of blessing rebellious pagans.  I think it’s safe to say that the people controlling Israel are not people who love the Lord.  I’m sure there’s some there and those would be the targets of this prayer.  This is not a blanket endorsement of ever political activity that comes out of the Knesset.

So pray for Israel.  By all means call down God’s blessing.  And while you’re calling down God’s blessing, ask for His Holy Spirit to move in such a way that there is genuine revival within that nation because so much of the world focuses on Israel right now.  

Communication

Psalms 61:1 (KJV) [[To the chief Musician upon Neginah, [A Psalm] of David.]] Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer.

(Proverbs 10 also read)

I wonder how useful it is for us to plead with God to hear our prayers.  Somehow I get the feeling that He is listening all the time and hears what we have to say.

Of course, there are some qualifiers on getting answers to our prayers.  The New Testament gives us a number of things such as praying within the will of God and other things like that.  Those are qualifiers on answers, though not on whether God hears us.

Actually, the only qualification or limitation that I see on God hearing our prayers is whether we are believers or not.  There are several places where God tells us that He does not hear the prayers of unbelievers.  Of course, He hears the prayer of a repentant sinner but that’s not the same as, “Heal my cancer.”

So?  If it makes you feel better, ask God to listen.  More important, live in repentance.  

Extol?

Psalms 145:1 (KJV) [[David's [Psalm] of praise.]] I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever.

(Proverbs 13 also read)

It occurred to me as I began reading that I wasn’t totally sure with the word “extol” meant.  I did what we are supposed to do as we read any literature, let alone scripture:  I looked it up.  It has to do with lifting up, exulting, praising, speaking highly of, you can go on from there.  We are to lift up God forever and ever.

Of course, my mind gets skeptical even in things like this.  I ask myself how can I as a finite, fleshly, recently released from sin human being, extol the eternal Master and Maker of the universe?  It seems like an empty gesture.  It’s almost like the tiny curly bug which my grandson plays around with called him “good looking”.  Who cares if an insect thinks you’re good looking?

Don’t forget God’s point of view.  He created us.  He created us in His own image.  We know that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  We have this totally unique relationship with the God of the universe.  And He wants our prayers.

So?  Take a moment, and lift up the God of the universe.  You won’t be able to lift him very high, but there are many times where it is our attitude and effort, not our ability.  

Rewards

Psalms 54:4 (KJV) Behold, God is mine helper: the Lord is with them that uphold my soul.

(Proverbs 16 also read)

David is going through a difficult time according to the introduction to this Psalm.  And then in this verse and the next we have two groups of people introduced.  In this verse we have people who uphold him.  In the next, we have those who are described as enemies.  I don’t know that I have any enemies, but I do know that there are people who are supportive of me.

This of course was originally written to David.  It applies specifically to him, but the principal that is shared here was meant to be applied to our lives.  Let’s not worry about the enemies right now.  I don’t know that I have any real enemies.  I’m not sure I’ve ever had any real enemies.  There might be people that don’t particularly care about me but I don’t know that there have been any out to get me, except for the cat course.

We are told to pray for enemies.  I think the point here is that we should also be praying for those who are our friends.  We should be asking God’s blessing upon those who serve him alongside us.

So?  Make sure you pray for the good guys.

Breaking Arms

Psalms 10:15 (KJV) Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil man: seek out his wickedness till thou find none.

(Proverbs 21 also read)

The title given this section of scripture by the editors is “Prayer for the overthrow of the wicked.”  I understand that is not in the actual text, but just a summary offered by some mysterious editor.  But it does summarize the Psalm pretty well.  When you get down to verse 15 you get this interesting request.

While it’s true that we are not supposed to wish tragedy on our enemies, that advice, which is given other places in Psalms and Proverbs, seems to be overlooked.  I would guess that this means that it’s OK for us to pray for heaps of coal to be dumped on the heads of the wicked.

So?  Don’t let this get you to walk away from living a righteous life, or examining your own self, but as you pray and you see people that are obviously wicked and living in defiance of God, it would seem to be OK to call upon God to deal with them in physical ways. 

Long Live the King

Proverbs 25:5 (KJV) Take away the wicked from before the king, and his throne shall be established in righteousness.

We have just gone through a changing of the guard, or at least I hope so.  I am writing this a month ago.  I’m also aware that Donald Trump is not the king.  He is, however, the head of state which is the equivalent.  I think we need to be praying specifically that this verse might somehow impress itself on his mind, even if he never reads it.

Our leadership needs to be purged.  We need the “wicked” (7563) to be removed. We need to have the oval office established in “righteousness” (6664).  If we hope to have a future, this has to happen.  I don’t think that any politician will do this voluntarily or even if he wants to he’ll be able to do it on his own.  He will need the power of God behind him.

So?  Pray that God would find a way to get our leadership focused on righteousness, and serving the God of the universe.  This is a great time to pray without ceasing. 

Timely

Psalms 122:6 (KJV) Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.

(Proverbs 3 also read)

If there was ever a time when we need to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, this is it.  Most of us are praying for our country and for the coming elections.  That is good, but we need to realize that there is more going on in the world than just in North America.

When you look at a verse like this, you need to first consider whom it is written to.  This is obviously written to the Jews of ancient times.  However, when you consider how to understand and apply a verse, today comes into consideration.  I think this applies to us today.  I think we should be praying that God’s people, whether they are obedient or disobedient, should know peace in that part of the world.

So?  Don’t forget Israel.  Don’t forget the chosen people.  What happens to them affects all of us.

Organized Prayer

(Psa 5:3 KJV)  My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.

In the past few years, I have developed something I call a “prayer map”.  It is nothing special.  You may do something like this, or not.  I found that I was having a hard time keeping track of the people in a Zoom group that I was in as I covenanted to pray for them.  I started developing groupings and specific orders that would help me to remember.  I found that this helped me to cover everything.  I added names organically instead of trying to remember a need mentioned.  If God brought something to mind and kept it there, I would add it; if not, I would pass on.  I think this is part of the idea of ordering or directing.

So? If you’re happy with how your prayer life is going then rejoice and enjoy.  If you’re struggling, then maybe take a little bit of time to organize it in a way in which you can remember the things that you want to cover.  Also, keep in mind that if you keep forgetting a name, God knows that person.  The children of some of my friends bear creative names because I either never heard the real one or don’t remember.  God knows whom I’m talking about.

Point of Prayer

(Psa 141:2 KJV)  Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.

(Proverbs 21 also read)

One of the topics I contemplate is prayer.  What is prayer?  Why do we pray?  What should I focus on?  These are all real questions for me.  When I read different places in the Bible and come across a prayer, I look at it because I want to use the biblical models as examples of what I should be doing.

One of the things I notice about this chapter, which is a prayer, is that there is no list of things required or asked for.  The focus seems to be on David living a righteous life.  He’s not asking for things.  He’s not asking about his health.  He’s talking about being the kind of man that God wants him to be.

So?  My prayer focuses on fellowship with God.  I try to listen to see what He wants to say to me.  I have a basic assumption that He will meet my needs, so I don’t need to spend much more than just like Jesus did asking for His daily bread.  Prayer is a relationship not a shopping list. 

Joy for Trouble

(Psa 86:7 KJV)  In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answer me.

There are days when I need a verse like this.  Do you know what I’m talking about?  Now, I must say, today is not one of them, but it is so good to be reminded of how dependable our God is.

Maybe we also need to remember that we don’t just need to call upon God in our time of trouble.  That’s what it says here but, I somehow think that God really enjoys it when we call upon him in our blessings.

So?  Are you blessed today or are you troubled today? One thing, never changes, God loves it when his people call upon His name.  I’m not sure which He enjoys more, the trust we expressed in our need or the lovely expression of joy. 

A Resource

(Psa 83:17 KJV)  Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; yea, let them be put to shame, and perish:

I would say that the forces of evil or justice are today as they were in the time of the Psalms.  I’m not sure I would say more active, but they are certainly busy persecuting and holding down the people of God.  At this point, they tend to have the forces of the government and the media and education behind them.  All we have of course, is our God.

That should be enough.  It is enough.  We need to pray for our government and be supportive of our government, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t ask God to confound them and trouble them so they would be full of shame and ready to obey.

So? Our concerns should start with prayer.  Our hope is in Christ and in the God of eternity, not in our political savvy. 

Confusion

Psalms 70:2 (KJV) Let them be ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul: let them be turned backward, and put to confusion, that desire my hurt.

As I sit here, I can’t remember where I heard it, but it seems to me that there was a general, or some kind of army man who would pray for confusion on his enemies.  We tend to think of this as our enemies but if you read the entire verse, it’s a little more focused than that.  The enemy he is talking about is the enemy who is after his soul.  It’s not just people that want to hurt him, to take his money or to break his arm, but people who want to condemn him to hell.

So?  We can be free to pray confusion and backwardness on people who are our enemies, but we need to keep in mind that the qualification is that they are spiritual enemies not just the guy in the next class who’s trying to date the girl that we like. 

Question

(Heb 4:16 KJV)  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Have you considered the glory of this verse recently.

Repeatedly in the Old Testament we are told that we cannot see God and live.  It seems clear but there are exceptions so it must need some study.  In the NT we know God because we know Jesus.  While we should not be losing our awe of the majesty of God we are told by Jesus that if we have seen Him we have seen the Father.

When we practice the worship of prayer we need to remember that.  When we have the audacity to stand in the congregation and lift our voices to the Holy One we need to remember that.  When we watch the glory of creation it should be on our mind.

So?  There is only one God and He has revealed Himself to us.  He has given us the gift of approaching Him.  Rejoice. 

Pray for Our Leaders

(Psa 17:13 KJV)  Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword:

We are told to pray for the president who just declared Trans Reveal Day.  We are to pray for the political class that thinks of themselves as our leaders.  One of the prayers that I think is appropriate is this verse.  We want God to “confront” (6923) those who push evil in our world.  We want God to be the spoiler, and they need to be spoiled.

We are asking God to “deliver” (6403).  I might note that there are plenty of places where God calls about delivering His people.

So?  Be His people.  Put yourself in His hands.  I don’t see any promises that God will protect one pagan from another. 

Promise or Common Sense

(Psa 122:6 KJV)  Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.

(Proverbs 4 also read)

This is a verse that we hear quoted a lot, or at least I do.  It is used to express support for Israel.  As I was reading through today I found myself wondering is this is one of those verses that only applied to ancient Israel or was it still a promise.

I was thinking that Jerusalem was the site of the Temple but if this was written by David the temple had not been built yet.  Since this Psalm does not have an author indicated and we know that Solomon wrote at least one Psalm, it is possible that the presence of the Temple is key.  

So?  Whether this is a promise or not, it is still something that we should be doing.  Jerusalem is in the Middle East.  The Middle East has the potential to pull world powers into war the way the Balkans did in World War I.  We should indeed be praying for the peace of Jerusalem.