Awaiting Prayers

One Monday evening, our pastor told the men’s Bible study group that God’s commands are prayers waiting to be prayed. He said we could ask God to teach us how to do the things He commands. That really resonated with me: awaiting prayers for you and me.

I can imagine the triune God just waiting for me to ask Him to help with His commands. Perhaps you’re thinking you don’t even know where to start with God’s commands. Sometimes the best place to start is at the start:

    “Show me Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; on You I wait all the day.” (Psalm 25:4-5)

Do you know what God’s ways are? I’m not talking about God’s ways in general; I’m thinking of specific things God would have us to do. Do you know these things? If not, then asking God to teach you His paths is a good place to start.

Learning the truth is probably the most overlooked area in a Christian’s life. We have a lot of opinions of what we believe is right and wrong, but usually they are grounded in a postmodern worldview. We tend to bend to the culture’s moral relativism instead of standing ramrod straight on Biblical truth.

How would I know the difference? I can ask God to look at my belief system and show me where it is not aligned with Biblical truth:

    “Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my mind and my heart. For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes, and I have walked in Your truth.” (Psalm 26:2-3)

David was a man after God’s own heart, the apple of God’s eye, and yet he knew to ask for God’s scrutiny over his life. David knew that he had and would fail, and that he would need to be redeemed from his wicked ways.

No doubt the great majority of you reading this desire to be obedient to God and yet, like me, you find yourself falling short of holiness. We can easily become blinded to the things of this world and not realize how unholy our lives are:

    “Deal bountifully with Your servant, that I may live and keep Your word. Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law.” (Psalm 119:17-18)

Just a side question: when was the last time, if ever, you considered something from the Bible as a wondrous thing? Perhaps you need to ask God to open your eyes.

Here’s an area with which I struggle: loving God’s commandments. So often I see God’s precepts as boundaries, and they are, but as boundaries are good for our children, so are God’s boundaries good for His children. We should delight in a Heavenly Father who wants to keep us holy and safe from harm:

    “Lord, I hope for Your salvation, and I do Your commandments. My soul keeps Your testimonies, and I love them exceedingly.” (Psalm 119:166-167)

Do you love God’s commandments exceedingly? I don’t and that is a prayer waiting to be prayed. I want God to change my heart about His commandments. It’s not that I find God as a strict taskmaster; I love the Lord and His ways.

However, having meditated on my pastor’s statement for several days I’ve come to realize that I do not love God’s commandments exceedingly. I do not hunger as I once did for Biblical truth. I want a new and refreshing desire for God’s Word. I want a clearer understanding of God’s teachings so I can share them with my children and grandchildren. I want to be able to speak God’s truth into a lost and dying world.

God’s commandments are the keys to the secrets of life. We do not need special degrees or theological treatises to figure out how we should live our lives. We need to know and obey God’s commandments:

    “This is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it.” (2 John 1:6)

Dear Jesus, I pray that You light a fire in my soul. I want a new hunger and thirst for your Word. Show me Your ways and teach me how I can live them all the days of my life. My great desire is to bring glory to You O Lord. I pray these things in Your holy name, amen.

In Christ
Dave
Ps. 37:4

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Copyright © 2015 David Jeffers

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