O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands. (Psalm 63:1–4, ESV)
Sometimes life is overwhelming. We find ourselves in a place we never thought we would be. How do we respond in those moments? What can we do?
Pray! It seems cliched. It seems obvious. But I fear it is something often overlooked. We take prayer for granted and often give it more lip-service than anything else.
Sometimes we camouflage worry as prayer. We think that because we are thinking about something that we are praying about it. But what we are really doing is practicing negative meditation. Prayer is to give our thoughts and words to God. It is very different than worry.
Prayer is to focus on God. Praise him for who he is and for what he does. Reflect on his beauty, his glory, his majesty. Sing a song to him. Adore him as your Heavenly Father who sees to your every need. Earnestly seek him with all your heart, soul, and strength.
Stop looking down and start looking up. We teach our kids to pray with their hands folded, head bowed, and eyes closed. We teach kids to pray that way because they are easily distracted. We can be distracted as adults too. But the Bible talks about lifting our hands to heaven as we pray.
It’s all about our focus. Are you focused on your problems? Or are you focused on your God? If we focus on our problems, we will look down. If we are focused on God, we will look up.
To lift your hands is a signal of surrender. When you lift your hands to God, you are surrendering you life and all the problems and worry that comes along with that.
A person who is filled with worry and fear will hold their hands clenched. They will have a difficult time opening up their hands. When we lift our hands to God, there is a physical, emotional, and spiritual release that takes place giving us freedom and relief.
Another thing to keep in mind is that prayer takes practice. The more we participate in prayer, the better we become. But for many people, the only time that they pray is when the troubled times come. And when that time comes, they will find themselves out of practice and the task is all the more difficult.
A final thing about prayer, is that it is good to be guided in our prayer. The Lord’s Prayer is the greatest model for prayer we have ever been given. Use the words that Jesus gives us to pray. Then reflect upon the significance of each petition. The Psalms is another place to find guidance for prayer. The Book of Psalms is not so much a book to be read, but a book to be prayed.
Reflection
- How does prayer comfort you in difficult times?
- How does your posture affect your attitude in prayer?
Prayer
Lord, you are great. You are awesome in power. You are all too lovely, all to worthy, all to wonderful. You are full of grace and mercy. You are the air I breath. You are living water. You are the bread of life. You are the resurrection and the life. I praise you, O God. Amen.
Leave a Reply