PRAYING BELIEVERS

“I believed in you, so I prayed, “I am deeply troubled, LORD.” Psalm 116:10 (NLT)

Prayer has its foundation in our faith in God. It is not a message sent to outer space without knowing who will receive it. Prayers are messages believers send to God . . . in faith that God will listen and in His wisdom, answer our prayers. Such is the privilege of those who believe they can pray. It is not a privilege for the few . . . rather, prayer is the privilege that few believers avail of. How sad!

The Psalmist soon realized that being related with God by faith does not at all exempt us from troubles . . . not just troubles, but deep troubles. In general terms he puts them in one category labeled as “deep troubles”. There are no details given to us about the troubles that beset the psalmist. One thing is sure, we are not exempted from it. Rather than digging for details, let us see how he confronted his troubles. The Psalmist PRAYED!

Let our faith in God lead us to commune with Him in fervent prayers. Here, let us see His hand over our situations and His embrace around our fears and His abundant grace overshadowing our failures and inadequacies. No more denying, no more pretending that we are not affected. Send your concerns to the throne of grace where the Lord meets the needs of the helpless! In God’s wisdom, He may choose to spare us or grant us His assuring presence as we go through the pain allotted to us.

If praying does not guarantee the result I desire, why bother to pray? We continue to pray because we are shortsighted and loudmouthed children of God. We pray so we can experience deep faith enriched by calamities that sweetens our celebration. We pray for we are weak in facing the challenges and forgetful to remember God in our success. One can say he believes and miss the privilege of talking to His Savior. On the other hand, the one who believes is daily nourished and, moment to moment, refreshed by his nearness to God using the privilege of prayer.

Praying believers are not only saved . . . they are walking close with the Savior. They hide and run to the Rock of their safety. “Lead me to the rock that is higher than I” is the psalmist’s longing. It is not always ‘bail me out’ and ‘spoil me with your blessings LORD’, rather, ‘draw me nearer to Yourself’ is the deep prayer of the believer. Praying believers are mature believers. They have different appetites and attitudes. It is not their perfection that drives them to call on God . . . it is their vulnerability and clumsiness that leads them to desperately call. This is what the Psalmist meant by “I believed in You, so I prayed.”