PRAYER ‘CAN BE’ WITHOUT CEASING Studies in the Psalms (Ps.5:1-3) “Give ear to my words, O Lord, my King and my God”: oh the preciousness of being with our Lord in prayer: time that we set aside to spend with our Savior, to bear our heart to Him in love and in trouble. ‘This time spent’ makes the meditations of our heart throughout the day; consider the desires of my heart Lord, give heed to the voice of my cry. My voice shall You hear in the mornings: the best time, time set aside before the world awakes. Praying from the heart is not just asking but praising; consisting of words, meditation, and cries. There are two ways we commune with our Lord, those expressed in words, and the unuttered longings in our hearts which abide as silent meditations. Here David is using both, he craves for the one a hearing, and for the other a consideration. In our quiet times with our Lord He already reads our hearts and our thoughts, “Before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear” (Isa.65:24). Do we really believe this? If so let us work to cultivate ‘the spirit of prayer’ which is even better than ‘the habit of prayer’. “There may be seeming prayer where there is little devotion; utterance is of no avail without heart; but fervent longings and silent desires are accepted even when unexpressed” (CHS). We begin to pray even before we pray, and should not cease when we rise up. Words are not the essence but the garments of prayer; Moses at the Red Sea cried to God, though he said nothing. Yet audible prayer may prevent distractions, it may assist the powers of the soul, and it may excite devotion. Then consider my meditations O Lord. The word consider could mean understand and means pay attention to, regard, and notice. He may be saying something like this…”If I have asked that which is right answer it unto me Lord, if not, fill up the void in my prayer.” There are voids and vacancies in our praying, but we have an all-righteous Mediator to edit and fill up those vacancies from our groanings which cannot be uttered. David prays with urgency, he has a need, he prays ‘in the spirit’ of true prayer; “give heed to the voice of my cry.” A cry has a voice; the voice of sorrow, the voice of helplessness, the voice of joy: tears of sorrow, tears of helplessness, and tears of joy. “The voice of my weeping,” a plaintive tone, an ear piercing shrillness; if you think your children get your attention with their cries, wait until you have grandchildren. If my heart is moved so at their cry, how must the shrillness of my prayer move my Holy Father: we can count on it, if our baby’s cries reach our hearts, if I throw everything aside to flee to their rescue I can count on Him to throw everything aside and flee to mine. Observe the pronouns here, my King, my God; here is the very marrow of the pleas, here is the argument for why God should answer. He is OUR King and OUR God; we’re not strangers to Him; we are His worshippers, His people by covenant choice, by oath and promise. “Come, my soul, thy suit prepare: Jesus loves to answer prayer; He Himself has bid thee pray, Therefore will not say thee nay; Thou are coming to a King, large petitions with thee bring; for His grace and power are such, none can ever ask too much” (John Newton). ~~Terry Worthan (1938-2022
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