answer me – Praying Pint

11.b. “Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me.”

Micah 5:15 And in anger and wrath I will execute vengeance on the nations that did not obey. Hear what the Lord says: Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. Hear, you mountains, the indictment of the Lord, and you enduring foundations of the earth, for the Lord has an indictment against his people, and he will contend with Israel. “O my people, what have I done to you? How have I wearied you? Answer me! For I brought you up from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. O my people, remember what Balak king of Moab devised, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him, and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord.”

Deuteronomy 32:1    “Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak, and let the earth hear the words of my mouth.

Luke 19:40    He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”

Jeremiah 22:29    O land, land, land, hear the word of the LORD!

Isaiah 1:2   Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the LORD has spoken: “Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me.

Give ear creation for God is proclaiming His anger against disobedience. God asks a very good question, “How have I wearied you?” “What have I done to you?” He is asking them what part of life is detrimental when following and obeying God? What part of being in the protective, powerful, and loving arms is bad for their life on earth? What part of promised eternal life with Him is not worth giving Him all our hearts, minds, and souls? What part of His provisions is so bad that we want to turn away and shun Him? If we give this any thought at all and look into how we are living our lives we might be ashamed of how we honor, glorify, follow, worship, obey, trust, and rely on Him.

Treasures of Hope

Psalms 119:145 With my whole heart I cry; answer me, O LORD! I will keep your statutes. I call to you; save me, that I may observe your testimonies. I rise before dawn and cry for help; I hope in your words. My eyes are awake before the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promise. Hear my voice according to your steadfast love; O LORD, according to your justice give me life. They draw near who persecute me with evil purpose; they are far from your law. But you are near, O LORD, and all your commandments are true. Long have I known from your testimonies that you have founded them forever.

The Psalmist passionately depended on God and His word, but that did not eliminate the participation of the Psalmist in any way. He still woke early to seek God, in prayer (cry for help) that was helped by God’s word (I hope in Your word).

i. “So long as the duty only of prayer is known, we shall be content with our set seasons. But when the privilege is felt, we shall be early at work, following it closely morning and night.” (Bridges)

“The word furnished his hope, and his hope his prayer.” (Trapp)

We use prayer in our study of the word of God; this is essential. Yet we also use the Word of God in our prayers. In prayer, the Word of God shows us:

· The nature and heart of the God we pray to

· What we have received from God, and should thank Him for

· His greatness, informing and expanding our praise

· His moral will, directing us to pray that we can do it

· His promises to His people, which we claim by faith

· Substance for our prayers, as we pray-read the Scriptures

Being diligent in prayer will never leave us destitute of hope. It is refreshing to know that prayer soon refreshes our heart, mind, and soul with hope, new hope, dependent hope, expectant hope, lasting hope, satisfying hope, delivering hope. This hope is grounded, established, and grown by faith in God. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

What is it that we hope for? What is it that occupies our thoughts? What are those longings we seek in the depth of our heart? Is it to know God, serve God, be used by God, to follow God, to honor God, to glorify God, to obey God???

We do well to give no more than a glance at the the distractions of the world around us and intently focus on the treasures of hope in His word.

Shine Your face upon us

“May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us”

“Make your face shine upon your servant, and teach me your statutes.”

“LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.”

Psalms 80:3 Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved!

Psalms 85:4 Restore us again, O God of our salvation, and put away your indignation toward us!

1 Kings 18:37 Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.”

Jeremiah 31:18 I have heard Ephraim grieving, ‘You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined, like an untrained calf; bring me back that I may be restored, for you are the LORD my God. For after I had turned away, I relented, and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh; I was ashamed, and I was confounded, because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’

Lamentations 5:21 Restore us to yourself, O LORD, that we may be restored! Renew our days as of old—

Psalms 4:6 There are many who say, “Who will show us some good? Lift up the light of your face upon us, O LORD!”

How do we know if our hearts are not in line with God and His plans and purpose? What does it take to turn our hearts back to God? How far do we have to drift away from Him before we realize the need to turn back to Him? Tough questions to answer. Let’s look at it another way. What if we chose to stay close and continually grow in our knowledge and understanding of Him, Jesus Christ. What if we determined to commit each day to humbly serving, honoring, following, and obeying Him. What if we devoted time each day to know Him more. What if we listened for His whispers of guidance and leading? What if we ????? There is so much we can and should do to keep from drifting away. The first of which is to have a heart desire each day to know and love and honor and obey and listen and follow Him.

Prayer to Praise

“Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life.”

“For he has delivered me from every trouble”

“I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

Psalms 54:1 O God, save me by your name, and vindicate me by your might. O God, hear my prayer; give ear to the words of my mouth.

Psalms 26:1 Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the LORD without wavering.

Psalms 43:1 Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people, from the deceitful and unjust man deliver me! For you are the God in whom I take refuge;

Psalms 55:1-2 Give ear to my prayer, O God, and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy! Attend to me, and answer me; I am restless in my complaint and I moan,

Psalms 28:7 The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.

Psalms 140:7 O LORD, my Lord, the strength of my salvation, you have covered my head in the day of battle.

Exodus 15:2 The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

Isaiah 40:31 but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Zechariah 10:12 I will make them strong in the LORD, and they shall walk in his name,” declares the LORD.

Ephesians 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.

We all come up against trials and troubles throughout this life. We can take note of David and how he brought these trials before God, almost like a complaint, but he always ends in praise proclaiming God’s love, mercy, might, strength and his faith in it. Acknowledging our trials and troubles to God, our heavenly Father, should be natural. Likewise we should have continual praise for Him and proclaiming our faith in His power, might, sovereignty, strength, love, mercy, and grace. Try this for a week. Read His word for 5 minutes each day and highlight His promises. These promises are your building blocks for praise because not only do we see what He has done but what He is doing and will do. Take your problems to Him and lay them in His hands. Trust in His promises to never leave you or forsake you, to have steadfast love for you, to be your strength, your rock, your power, your refuge, your joy, your peace, and your hope. In Him you will find rest and reason for hope.

Call on Him

“The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth”
“This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me”

Psalms 17:1
Hear a just cause, O LORD; attend to my cry! Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit!

Psalms 86:1
Incline your ear, O LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.

Psalms 142:1
With my voice I cry out to the LORD; with my voice I plead for mercy to the LORD.

Psalms 43:1
Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people, from the deceitful and unjust man deliver me!

Psalms 140:12
I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and will execute justice for the needy.

Psalms 61:1
Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer;

Nehemiah 1:6
let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father’s house have sinned.

Hear these heart cries from men of God who did not think it shameful or weak to run to God for help. These cries are heart deep because there is something in their heart, mind and soul that places God first and their life dedicated to being a humble servant with a desire to worship, honor and glorify God. Note in contrast what Jesus said about those whose hearts were not – “this people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.” How easy is it to give lip service to being a follower of God while our heart is so far away from living each moment of every day in His presence. God hears our cries for strength and protection but should that be the only time we turn our heart, mind and soul to Him. No it is not. Live each day with Him on your mind, in your heart flooding your soul.