Tag: crying out to God

Crying out to God

Posted in God will provide, Pauline epistles--BibleTrekToday, Psalms-BibleTrekToday - September 15, 2026 - 0 Comment

Scripture reading for September 15: Psalm 88:13-15 “But I, O Lord, cry out to You; in the morning my prayer comes before You. O Lord, why do You cast my soul away? Why do you hide Your face from me? Afflicted and close to death from my youth up, I suffer Your terrors; I am helpless.”

2 Corinthians 12:7-9 “So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.”

Those who have suffered affliction or sickness for an extended period often struggle with believing that God hears them or knows their desperate situation. Weeks and sometimes years of crying out to God go by without the answer coming. Feelings of weakness, weariness and helplessness sweep over them. Psalm 88 was written by a son of Korah and was added to the worship set of Israel and stands for us as a reminder that God’s timing and answers are often mysteries. We must continue in faith and worship. We can honestly share our feeling with God and confess our weakness and our need of His strength.

In the New Testament, the apostle Paul was given great revelation and insight by God. But he was also given a thorn in his flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass him. Paul sought the Lord three times to ask for it to be sent away. But God did not remove this ‘thorn’ as Paul had requested. Instead, God told him that His grace would be sufficient to bear up under this Satanic harassment. God was being merciful to Paul to keep him from conceit and pride. God’s power is made perfect in our weakness and dependence through faith. When we confess our weakness and dependence on God, then we are candidates for His sufficient grace to bear up whether for a short time or a long endurance.

Prayer: Father God, these lessons from the psalmist and the apostle Paul are hard for me to process. I have been told to be strong and take authority over Satan and his attacks. Deepen my relationship with Jesus that I might honestly deal with my weaknesses and dependency on You. Amen.

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Prayer set before Him like Incense!

Posted in Uncategorized - July 2, 2009 - 0 Comment

Scripture reading for July 2nd: Psalms 140-145

Have you ever experienced a prolonged time of sickness or trouble that seemed would not end?  Have you felt like God didn’t hear your prayer or wasn’t answering your call?  David’s life was one of deep trouble and prolonged times of pursuit by his enemies.  Often these enemies were from his own friends or family!  His brothers were jealous of him and spoke in a derogatory manner about him.  His boss, King Saul, tried to kill him and hunted him mercilessly for a number of years.  His own wife, Michal, despised him for dancing before the Ark!  His son Absolom tried to take his throne by force and hunted him for a time!  David had a habit of prayer that helped  him to keep his soul steady and in tune with the Lord.  These psalms are written down for us to give us encouragement to pray!

In Psalm 140, David is crying out to the Lord for rescue from evil men.  These men have sharp tongues and plot violence and war against him.  They would love to trap him and trip him up.  David realized that he needed God’s mercy to make it through the battles.  He prayed that those who surrounded him would be covered with the trouble that their own lips had caused!  (Psalm 140:9)  In other words, he wanted them to reap what they sowed!  He prayed that they would have burning coals fall upon them and that they would be thrown into the fire and miry pits.  He assured himself that the righteous will praise God’s name because God secures justice for the poor and needy!

In Psalm 141 David asked the Lord to come quickly and help him!  He asked that his prayer would come before God like incense.  The priests would add incense to the burnt offerings to make the smell of the burning meat more fragrant.  As they offered the prayers before the  golden Altar of Incense in the Holy Place, the incense on the coals would rise in sweet fragrance to the Lord before the veil.  In Revelation 8:3-5, John the Apostle sees an angel offering incense with the prayers of the saints on the golden altar before God’s throne.  As the prayers and incense ascended, the Angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and hurled it toward the earth producing thunder, lightning, rumblings and an earthquake!  David knew the power of prayer and expected God to help him!

As we read this series of psalms, we realize that we are totally dependent on God.   He can be depended on!  One of the best prayers is found in Psalm 143:10-11.  “Rescue me from my enemies, O Lord, for I hide myself in you.  Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.  For your name’s sake, O Lord, preserve my life; in your righteousness, bring me out of trouble.