earnest prayer

Perfect Prayers

Answer me when I call to You, O God who declares me innocent.
Free me from my troubles.
Have mercy on me [be gracious to me] and hear my prayer.
Psalm 4:1 NLT

I like the simplicity of David’s prayer. Reminds me of a Max Lucado devotional entitled, Prayer’s Aren’t Graded:

“Jesus downplayed the importance of words in prayers. We tend to do the opposite. The more words the better! We emphasize the appropriate prayer language, the latest prayer trend, the holiest prayer terminology. Against all this emphasis on syllables and rituals, Jesus says in Matthew 6:7: ‘Don’t ramble like heathens who talk a lot.’ There’s no panel of angelic judges with numbered cards.”

I love the line “There’s no panel of angelic judges with numbered cards.” Sometimes we pray like we think there is. God doesn’t count our words or measure our syntax. He doesn’t edit our grammar. God looks at our heart. As the Scriptures tell us:

Man does not see what the Lord sees, for man sees what is visible,
but the Lord sees the heart.
1 Samuel 16:7b (HCSB)

For You look deep within the mind and heart, O righteous God.
Psalm 7:9b (NLT)

In this verse David used only a few words, but he prayed with passion. David’s prayer came from deep within his heart. Take a look at James 5:16b (AMP):

The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man
makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working].

It doesn’t say the ‘perfect’ prayer. It doesn’t say the prayer of 100 words or more. It says the “earnest (heartfelt, continued)” prayer. God already knows what is on your heart. He just wants you to share it with Him. It doesn’t really matter how you share it, as long as you do share it with Him. Even if you can’t put it into words or express it verbally. Romans 8:26 (AMP) states:

So too the [Holy] Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness;
for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought,
but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf
with unspeakable yearnings and groanings too deep for utterance.

Prayer doesn’t have to be fancy. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It just needs to be heartfelt. It needs to be uttered with passion. Even if it is only to call His name – Jesus! God honors fervent prayers by being merciful and gracious to us.

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Holy Father, I am so thankful my prayers do not have to be perfect to be heard. You know what is in my heart and You long for me to share it with You. Thank You for the intimacy prayer brings. Thank You for the mercy and grace you extend to me, undeserving as I am. May I lift up my requests to You with heartfelt passion. In Your Holy name I pray, Amen – It Is So!

Prayerfulness

Answer me when I call to You, O my righteous God.
Give me relief from my distress,
Be merciful to me and hear my prayer.
Psalm 4:1

This verse reveals the kind of person who will be answered by God in times of distress—it is one with an earnest desire for God’s help.

There are times in my life when I have been down and cried to my God to answer my prayers because I felt that they were not being answered and that I was left alone with no one to turn to. And this only brought discomfort and fear in me. All the faith had gone…all I could see was unanswered prayer and so it led me to focus on the issues and not where the solution can could come from. But the Holy Spirit communicated to me saying “You know what, Ann? Cast all your cares unto God and He will give you rest.” And it was at this time when my eyes opened and I remembered Jeremiah 33:3.

Call to Me and I will answer you,
and I will tell you great and mighty things,
which you do not know.

Prayer is a weapon for answered prayer especially when it comes from an earnest heart…and so earnestly He will answer us. Make a choice to engage into a different dimension of living. Engage in a prayerful gear and you will appreciate, too, what I appreciated.

O Lord, in the morning You hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before You and wait expectantly.
Psalm 5:3

In this verse, we see David committing himself to three actions

1. Confident that God will hear his voice, he persists in prayer
2. He will pray in the morning – if we orient our lives around God, morning prayers will be a natural thing to do
3. He will wait in expectation for answers to his prayer and throughout the day he will search for signs that God is at work in his life

I rise before dawn and cry for help I have put my hope in Your Word.
Psalm 119:147

The Word of God is not false it is a living thing that helps us to build trust in the Lord.

And then was a widow until she was eighty four.
She never left the temple but worshipped night and day, fasting and praying.
Luke 2:37

Therefore, my brethren, with the few Scriptures quoted in this devotion, I urge each one of you to be earnestly prayerful and regularly engaged in prayer. With faith, we will have answered prayers. All that we need is to ask God for help. Our prayers will be granted.

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Lord, I pray that You hear me when I pray as I come to You. I pray for Your mercy to hear me when I call, Lord. Supply to me according to Your riches in glory. Silver and gold is all Yours! Have mercy on me, Lord, and on my sisters in the Lord, too. We seek You and thank You that all things will be added to us, Lord. Glory and honor be unto You always. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

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