Giving Myself to Prayer

Psalm 109:4 For my love they are my adversaries: but I give myself unto prayer.

In Psalm 109, David is talking about someone who has treated him badly. Obviously, it is someone that he has shown kindness to. Our verse today says that in return for David's love, the people became his enemies. That's always a blessing, isn't it! We treat someone kindly, we go above and beyond for someone, and then they turn against us! As my dad used to say, with friends like that, who needs enemies?

David's words pricked my heart today: "but I give myself unto prayer." Ouch! I'd rather give myself unto complaining. Or eating. Or losing my temper. Or whining. Or all four. Not prayer. Yet, I see the power and truth in David's words. Prayer truly is the answer. Prayer changes things, it changes others, but most of all, it changes me. I admit that my prayer life is one of the hardest things for me to remain consistent on! I don't know why it's such a struggle, I've had many prayers answered over the years, so I know its power. I suppose I'm just lazy. I want to do better in my prayer life; I want to give myself to prayer when life is hard, and when it's good, too.

Destitute

Psalm 102:17 He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer.


This verse was good news to me this morning. I may not be "destitute" in the literal sense of the word. It means "not having the basic necessities of life." I have food and shelter and clothing, I have the "necessities". But I feel needy in other ways. I feel spiritually needy. I've been fighting my flesh in a certain area for a while. It rises up, I conquer it. It rises again, I stumble, then conquer it. I'm out of breath, but I keep going. I'm loaded down, but I keep moving, even if it's just an inch. I need help. I need renewal, revival, refreshment...and any other good "re" word! :)

What a blessing it was to see that those of us who are destitute, and in this case meaning, "not having the necessities of spiritual strength" (my own version of the word), can pray. Best of all, God will hear and not despise our prayer! I'm looking for an answer today, and everyday. I need His help.We are beginning revival services this coming Sunday through Thursday. I'm praying for God to do a work in everyone that comes, but especially me. I need Him to work in me.

Beginning Again

Psalm 19:12-14 Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. Let the words of my mouth, and the mediation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength and my redeemer.

As I read this Psalm this morning, my heart cried out in agreement with David's words! Oh how I want to cleansed from "secret faults" or sins that I am unaware that I'm committing. In fact, I want the Lord to make me aware of them. I want to cease all sin, if it is possible to do so.

I also do not want to give in to the presumptuous sins, the ones I know I'm committing. There are times each month when it is easy for me justify a bad temper or ill nature. I don't ever want to justify sin. I can also justify harsh words sometimes, by saying "I was provoked! It's so-and-so's fault!" But the truth is, it is my fault when that happens. I control my tongue, not so-and-so.

Psalm 19:14 is my husband's life verse and it should be mine, also. 99.9% of the sin I commit is either thinking bad thoughts or saying hurtful words. I want to defeat that sin, but I can only do so with the Lord's help. May all the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart to be acceptable to the Lord. What is it they say? "The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step"?

I begin -again - today.

My Refuge

Psalm 9:9-10 The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.


These verses were such a blessing to me today! I just wanted to share them. What a blessing that those of us who know the name of the Lord will trust in him. Why? Because, as verse ten says, he "hast not forsaken us". I'll be honest, sometimes I feel like waving toward heaven and saying "Yoohoo! I'm down here!", because I feel invisible to the Lord. But feelings, as we all know, are not facts. The facts are found in God's Word, and He says He is my refuge and that He has not forsaken me, nor will He ever forsake me.

Isn't that wonderful news?! I've been oppressed lately from various angles. I'm weary, I feel beaten up. These are truly troublesome times. What a comfort to know where to go in times like these - to the feet of my Lord in prayer; to the pages of His Word. My Lord is my refuge and I run to Him today. Would you like to come, too? There's room for all.

I Practice Mind Control

Is. 26:3-4 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Trust yet in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength.


I try to read my Bible each day until I "get" something from Him. It's not always (or ever?) a profound Bible truth or a goose-bump giving promise, but it's something. It may be a verse that I think would be good to memorize, or a reminder of something I need to work on. Or, it might be seeing an "old friend" - a verse I underlined sometime in the past. I was so pleased today when I opened right up and immediately heard from the Lord.

The verses above have been quoted hundreds of times. I have Is. 26:3 memorized and have had it memorized for a while now. Yet, as I read it today, along with verse 4, I heard the Savior gently calling to me, telling me that I was not heeding these verses.

If I dwell on negative thoughts, troublesome situations, hurts of the past and so forth, my countenance falls and the tears flow. Soon, my words follow my heart and I begin to pull others down by sharing my heartache with everyone. I get lost in my depressed world and snap at anyone who disturbs me. When one comes along to encourage me, to remind me of my blessings, I get resentful and I fight for my right to remain blue. Basically, I'm wallowing in self-pity. And it all began with my mind!

I'm going to practice mind control today. I'm going to try to keep my thoughts on my blessings, for there are so many! I'm going to cry out to my Father for strength when I am weak, for our verse says through Him, we have everlasting strength! That's certainly what I need!

When I feel myself sliding down the slippery slope toward woe, I'm going to cry out to my Lord for help. Too often I pray in the morning and then no more the rest of the day. I want to talk to Him often, and rely upon Him each moment of my day.

I wish you a very blessed weekend!

Calling Jesus

I've also been mediating on Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.. I'm not sure why, it hasn't been in my daily reading for a while now. Perhaps the Holy Spirit is prodding me to keep my eyes upon Him. It's so easy to try to plan out my life, without regard to the Lord's will. I've been asking myself, am I praying about decisions concerning my children? Concerning homeschooling? Concerning anything? Jesus cares about even the smallest situations in my life, but so often, I deal with them myself. I want to talk to Him throughout the day, about everything. One preacher described it as "Shouldering the phone". That's a good way to think of it. I want to call Him each day, and shoulder the phone as I go through the day, talking to Him all day long.

Thou God Seest Me

Genesis 16:2 And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.

I cannot tell you what a blessing my reading today was! Thank you for giving me the opportunity to rejoice in the blessings of God's Word with you. I would love to hear about the special things you're gleaning from Scripture, as well. It is so exciting to hear how God is working in people through His Word. He certainly works on me! 

Just yesterday, I was discussing with my husband (in a rather frustrated tone) that I was tired of the problems we are facing, and have faced for many years now. When will it be over? It seems to get better, then get worse, then get better...you get the idea. My husband is a very patient man. He has the ability to "put away" the burdens and fully concentrate on other things. I cannot do that very easily. I dwell on the problems, putting them away for a few minutes, just to start dwelling on them again! I told him that I understood why so many pastor's and missionary's wives of yesteryear went crazy and had to be locked in their basements! Then I asked him if we could build a basement! I wanted my husband to "fix" our problems, or at least do something, even if what he did wasn't going to fix it. He replied, "We have to wait. We have to wait on the Lord. When He tells me what to do, I'll do it." I didn't want to wait. I was tired of waiting. I knew in my heart he was right, but I didn't feel better about it. I remained discouraged.

Then, this morning, I read about Sarai (Sarah), and how she offered Abram a solution to their problem of not having a child. We know God had promised to make Abram a great nation (Gen.15:4-5), but when? That was the piece of information they didn't have. If God had said, "Abram, I'll make you a father on July 12 of next year" Sarah probably wouldn't have been tempted to fix things, she just would have been crossing days off her calendar. But, she didn't know the date. In her impatience, she convinced Abram to commit sin with her maid, Hagar, so that she could raise a child by her. Sarah's plan backfired, and when Hagar became pregnant, Sarah became angry! Hagar saw that she was used in the situation and ran away, but God saw exactly where she was and he helped her. 

Sarah tried to "fix" her problem, rather than just wait on God. By meddling with it, she made it worse. What a wonderful reminder to me that I must wait on God, not try fix my situation. My solution (whatever it may be) will not fix anything. I don't have the date that my problem will go away - if I did, it wouldn't be as big of a problem - but I have the Word of God, I have prayer, and I have Jesus walking beside me. Lord, help me as I wait on You!