What a blessing it is to share the prayer requests we hear in this Christ Church body! Of course many of them tear at your heart with the accounts of life threatening medical issues like cancer, heart failure, strokes and severe injuries. We also hear about life altering situations like job loss, family troubles or the death of loved ones. But the very fact that those who are hurting covet the prayers and comfort of their brothers and sisters reveals the hope and life we have in Jesus — a resurrection life!
Last week Pastor Dan preached on the Psalms ( see The Pedestrian Way ) and reiterated that the Psalms themselves are songs and prayers to the God of the Israelites. King David himself is credited with writing many of them. He also reminded us that the Psalms contain every expression of the human condition from joy to praise to terror to thanks — the same range of emotions we saw in our Christ Church family prayer requests last week. The Israelites of the Psalms did not yet know Jesus, but they were every bit as human and needy as we are today, and the Psalms express that.
Are you scared? There's a Psalm to comfort you. Are you angry? There's a Psalm to help you express your rage and ask the Lord to deal with your enemy. And, while the words in the Psalms are far more poetic than the pedestrian prayers we offer up ourselves, they can teach us the vocabulary and give us a voice to talk to God in our time of need. They also assure us that He is listening and has been since the creation of Adam.
I have a new perspective on the Psalms as a result of last week's sermon. I now see the Psalms as the most eloquent 150 prayers ever written. And when I place that next request for prayer with my brothers and sisters, I just may see what the Psalmists had to say on the subject first. How about YOU?
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