Tag: Psalm 139:1-4

There is nothing better than starting the day with prayer. I am not a morning person at all! However, when I made the decision to make God the first priority of my day and spend time with him, my days always seemed to go better. I still have my share of difficult moments and problems to solve, but when I take the time to start my day reading God’s Word and praying, it gives me the strength I need to make it through whatever the day may bring. From Psalm 5:3, we learn four examples for us to follow from David’s prayer life.

When I take the time to start my day reading God’s Word and praying, it gives me the strength I need to make it through whatever the day may bring. — click to tweet

First, David made prayer a priority. Before David got busy with his day, he made sure to spend time with God. We when do, it shows a reverence towards God. Have you ever noticed that when you don’t start the day with prayer and Bible study that they day gets away from you and it never happens? You might have the best of intentions and mean to do it later, but life happens and times runs out and as you climb into bed exhausted you have no energy left to spend time with God. Did you know that Jesus also made it priority to pray in the morning? In Mark 1:35, we find that “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, He [Jesus] go up, went out, and made His way to a deserted place. And He was praying there.” Do you have a place set aside where you will not be disturbed so you can be alone with God? Mine is the bathroom — seriously! I also get up before anyone else in my house so that the house is quiet and I can give God all my focus and attention.

We can have the best intentions and mean to do it later, but when we don’t start the day with prayer, life happens and time runs out and as we climb into bed exhausted there is no energy left to spend time with God. — click to tweet

Second, David expected and knew that God would hear him. In Psalm 5:3, David said, “you will hear my voice.” It wasn’t a plea for God to hear him. It wasn’t a hope that God would hear him. David knew that his prayers were heard. Because God is sovereign, God hears every word we say and even every thought. So we can be assured that God hears us when we pray. Nothing gets by Him. Psalm 139:1-4 says, “Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I stand up; You understand my thoughts from far away. You observe my travels and my rest; You are aware of all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue, You know all about it, Lord.” God is the one who created prayer as a means of communicating with Him. We can be know without any doubt that he hears us. However, there are times where He does not listen.

• Proverbs 28:9 tells us that when we deliberately turn a deaf ear to God’s instructions that our prayers are detestable to Him. We do this when we choose to hold on to a sin rather than repent and change.
• James 4:3 tells us that God does not listen to our prayers when we ask Him for things out of our own selfish desires. If our motives are not aligned with God’s will, then they becomes selfish. This verses says, “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”
• 1 John 5:14 tells us that when we ask for something outside of God’s will, he will not listen to our prayers. This verse says, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we asking anything according to his will, he hears us.” So before we ask God for anything, we need to be sure that what we are asking aligns with His will for our lives.
• Mark 11:24 tells us that if do not ask in faith, God will not listen to our prayers. In this verse, Jesus said, “I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” So then, when we pray, we need to have the faith that God does hear us and that He will grant our requests when they are aligned to His will.

In Psalm 5:3, David said, “you will hear my voice.” It wasn’t a plea for God to hear him. It wasn’t a hope that God would hear him. David knew that his prayers were heard. — click to tweet

 

Are there times God does not hear our prayers? When we refuse to repent of sin (Prov 28:9), when we ask with wrong motives (James 4:3), when we ask outside of God’s will (1 John 5:14), or when we do not ask in faith (Mark 11:24) God will not hear us. — click to tweet

The third thing we can learn to model after David is to keep a prayer list. David ordered his prayers. They were not haphazard or unthought. Instead, he carefully arranged his prayers in a thought out manner. He took time to meditate, consider God’s laws, made sure His request was in line with God’s will. He made sure that he had repented of any sin before laying out His request to God. He had an order to His prayer. Think for a moment about the one famous person you’d like to have an opportunity to sit down and talk to. For me, it would be Priscilla Shirer. Whoever it is for you, if you were granted a one-hour meeting to talk to that person, you’d plan your conversation. You’d think about the questions you’d ask. If we would do that with another person, why would we not plan our prayer conversations with a sovereign, omnipotent God?

Another important aspect of keeping a prayer list is that when can put a date God answered next to each request so that when we come to a season of life where it seems that God is not working in our lives, we can look back at all the times before God answered our prayers and know that He is at work now, even if we can’t see it.

Our prayers should be ordered – not haphazard. We need to take time to meditate, consider God’s laws and God’s will before we bring a request to Him.  — click to tweet

The fourth thing we learn from David’s prayer life is that he eagerly watched for God to answer. If we have confessed our sins, examined our motives, searched God’s will, and have prayed in faith, than we can expect God to answer so we need to be watching for how God answers. It might be exactly as we asked, or it might be something even better than we could think to ask. It could also be in a way that we did not ask. David eagerly watched. It’s the kind of “eagerly” that we’d described as “sitting on the edge of his seat” just waiting and watching to see what God would do.

When David prayed, he eagerly watched and expected God to answer. It’s as if he was “sitting on the edge of his seat” just waiting and watching for what God would do. — click to tweet.

Making prayer a priority in our lives becomes easy when God is priority. There should be an eager desire to talk with God, spend time with him, learn more about him, and to know His will for our lives. If you do not already start our day with prayer, what’s stopping your from making prayer a priority in your life?

Making prayer a priority in our lives becomes easy when God is priority. — click to tweet

 

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God, Love and Marshmallow Wars: This book contains 365 daily challenges for couples to strengthen their relationships to each other and with God. Couples will complete activities such as Scripture memory, conversation starters, relationship builders, learning about Biblical marriage, romance builders, personal reflections, and date ideas. Click here to purchase your copy. (This link will open a new widow and take you to Westbow Press’ bookstore.) It is also available at Christian Book Distributors, Amazon, and Barnes & Nobel

 

Looking for a speaker for your next ministry event? Julia is now booking for 2019 and 2020 Christian events for women’s and couples’ ministries for both small and large events.
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Julia is CEO of Wellspring Christian Ministries, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping people and couples develop a passionate relationship with God. A public speaker, conference trainer, event planner, and blog writer, Julia is a two-time graduate from Grand Canyon University with a bachelor in Psychology and a masters in Professional Counseling. Saved as a child and raised in church and in a Christian home and private Christian School as a Pastor’s kid, Julia has taught Sunday school, led music, played the piano, served as Children’s Director, and engaged her gifts in many other areas of church life. Previously employed with the Florida Baptist Convention, Julia organized events and led conferences for church ministry assistants.

Julia enjoys sharing her journey as a growing Christian with others looking for a deeper connection with God. Through Bible study and her own life experiences, God has given Julia a passion to help couples understand God’s design for marriage while they learn to place God first in their marriage, cultivate meaningful relationships, build intimacy, and address the tougher issues that come in every marriage so that they can experience a marriage that honors and glorifies God. Julia also loves mentoring, teaching, and working with women to help them learn to live as Godly women.

With her history and experience growing up in both small and large churches, Julia enjoys bringing top level quality events to churches of all sizes. Her father largely pastored small churches and therefore she understands that these vital parts of the believing community need to be good stewards of the resources God provides them with. This knowledge inspires her passion for being available with a fresh perspective for those who want to provide their congregations with meaningful spiritual growth opportunities.

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