There are days in life when you arise to find the surprising pleasure that nothing is troubling you. For me, those days are the exception rather than the rule but I will take as many of them as God chooses to give. Confession time: I like my life over-easy, my challenges well-done and my results with no burnt edges…all washed down with a warm, comforting cup of “Jeff’s-way” before I get to the business of living life. If you are honest, you’ll admit that you prefer things to go your way also and, given the option, you would likely spend the rest of your days in the absence of drama and dilemma. Yet Father knows best and typically ensures that each day’s pathway has sufficient obstacles so that you will continue to look to Him to show you the direction which leads to His very best for you. Listen to the Psalmist’s plea:
“Gladden the soul of your servant, for to You, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. For You, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon You. Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; listen to my plea for grace. In the day of my trouble I call upon You, for You answer me.” – Psalm 86:4-7 {ESV}
Let’s do a little math: 4 sentences; 3 requests; 3 mentions of the Lord by name; 5 mentions of the Lord by the word ‘You’…1 mention of the day of trouble. I believe this to be a healthy ration of what can be said to God during days of difficulty. The Psalmist is praying to God and preaching to himself all at the same time. His primary focus is not his own trouble, whatever that trouble might have been. He is not looking at God through the lens of His problems (which can make God appear small to us). He was sizing up his personal difficulty in view of the greatness of His God. As a result there are a combined total of eight references to God and only one reference to the Psalmist’s challenging situation. Do we pray with that same ration these days?
Not to self: God is immeasurably larger than anthing happening to me, the feelings associated with my trouble and the prospect of the trouble lasting longer than the opportunity for me to encounter relief. God is not uninformed, unmoved, uninvolved or unfeeling. He’s standing still so I can sense Him quickly if I’ll only simmer down and adjust my prayer ration from 600:1 in favor of my problem to something more appropriate for a redeemed child of the King. Read the specific words of the Psalmist when he requests for God to “listen to my plea for grace”. I absolutely cherish that little prayer because it swallows up the smaller prayers that we are so very tempted to pray in times of tedious trouble. A plea for grace will accomplish so much more than stand-alone prayers like:
“Lord please help me pay my bills….Lord, please change my spouse…Lord, please help me get more than a 81 on my exam so I can pass the class…Lord, please take away the pain in my hands…Lord, please remove my emotional blues..Lord, please make the irritating person over there vaporize…”
In an assertion of trust which seems to acknowledge an awareness that he may not have known the best thing to ask, the Psalmist humbly prays, “You, O Lord…You, O Lord…You…O Lord…listen to my plea for grace…I call upon You, for You answer me.”
It is not most important to remember what to pray, but to remember to Whom you pray. When you remember Him and let your desperation flow, resting in a requested grace, you will find something more precious than His hand moving on your behalf. You find the face of God smiling on you, His beloved child.
