Psalm 119: Focus On God's Word Pt. 74 God Hears Our Prayers!

Psalm 119:25  DALETH. My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word. 

Verse 25 has to do with the root causes of our soul being so downcast that we are cleaving in the dust. We learned that our unconfessed sin can make us downcast. Also, attacks from Satan and hostility from people can cause us to feel overwhelmed and oppressed. 

We also looked how God can do soul level work in our heart that is for our good and that will draw us closer to His side. Supporting all of these truths are the scriptures that give us great hope and comfort when we are afflicted.

God hears the believer's prayers

Psalm 119:26  I have declared my ways, and thou heardest me: teach me thy statutes. 

This text helps us remember what it means to declare our ways to Jehovah. This encompasses confessing our sins, telling God about our dreams and hopes, and seeking His guidance before we put any of our own plans into motion. 

Declaring our ways to God expresses our dependency upon Him. It is an act of seeking His blessing and counsel for all our endeavors. 

It is an act of faith, knowing that our high priest, Jesus Christ has opened the way for us to boldly come to the throne of grace for help. 

Now we reach a point where the Psalmist teaches us about God's grace toward us. Jehovah will hear us. 

Our prayer must align with God's will

1 John 5:14,15  And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: 15)  And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. 

There is a great difference between God accepting our prayers and His granting our petition. God accepts our prayer as soon as we begin to pray because we are believers in Christ. 

We have the utmost confidence that we have a ready access and a sure audience with the Father through our standing in Christ. 

The apostle John wrote the text above when he was nearing the end of his life and was in his nineties. 

Prayer is the language of the children of God. He who is begotten of God speaks this language. He calls God Abba Father, in the true spirit of supplication. 

Prayer is the language of dependence on God.  Faith and prayer are not to advance our selfish claims upon God. We must take heed that what we ask for is agreeable to the revealed will of God. 

A sure position of prayer is to plead the promises God has made to us. A prayer that pleads His promises will be a prayer that is heard and answered. 

This is not new to us, but God will not always give us exactly what we request in our prayers. He did not remove the thorn in Paul's flesh (2 Corinthians 12:1-9) because He knew what was best for His apostle.

We must remain persistent in prayer. 

Matthew 15:21-28  Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. 22)  And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. 23)  But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. 24)  But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 25)  Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. 26)  But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. 27)  And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. 28)  Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour. 

Sometimes God will delay His answer because His timing is perfect and our sense of urgency is marred by our flesh. He may delay in order to exercise our faith.

This woman of Canaan came to Christ seeking help for her demon possessed daughter. First, Jesus did not answer her pleas. Then as she persisted in seeking His help, Jesus said twice that His ministry was to the Israelite people. 

The Jewish people thought of the Gentiles as dogs and heathens. Thus, as she worshipped Christ, she persisted in faith, believing what she had heard about Jesus's power to heal.

She was undaunted and said that even dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters table. At this point, Jesus commended her for having great faith and granted her request. 

A lack of faith brings spiritual slothfulness.

Hebrews 6:11,12  And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end: 12)  That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. 

Being persistent in prayer is part of having our faith tested and strengthened. How full is our assurance and confidence in the promises of God? When our Father delays answering our prayers, then we quickly discover how well we have taken hold of His promises.

His loving delays in answering prayer help us learn persistence and perseverance in praying. If we give up because we think God will not answer us, then we are being spiritually slothful.

If God is willing to hear prayers from His children, then let us pray with wisdom rather than in the foolishness of our flesh. 

Let us remember answers from our Father for prayers we previously made. How prone we are not to praise Him for all the times He has answered our prayers.

Pray every morning with anticipation that God will hear.

Psalm 5:3  My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.

Let us be like King David who declared that he would pray to Jehovah early in the morning. He chose to look up to God with anticipation that he would receive a response. He looked toward heaven with faith and his prayers were heard and answered. 

Remember to give thanks for answered prayers.

Psalm 50:15  And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. 

If we fail to recount how many times the Lord has answered our prayers, then we are failing to give Him glory due unto His name. 

The Psalmist tells us that when we call upon Jehovah for help, direction, strength or whatever it may be, He promises to answer. 

We must glorify Jehovah by taking note of when He answers our prayer. I am sure that we all want to bring glory to God. By stopping each day to think about our prayers and His answers, it will help us express our thanksgiving.

Our love to Jehovah increases when we pray.

Psalm 116:1,2  I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. 2)  Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.  

When we take time to consider the goodness of God in hearing our prayers and in the answers He supplies, our love for the LORD will grow. 

We ought to love God more and more because He does hear us when we pray. He takes notice of all our supplications and His ear is turned toward believers who pray. 

We are praying to the God who made everything that exists and who gives life to all living things. 

He governs the movements of the sun, moon and stars with His power. He holds the atoms in place so that we do not fly apart. 

He loved us enough to allow His Son, Jesus Christ to be born as a man, die on a cross and rise from the grave to save us and offer us eternal life.

What a God we serve! May we all be like the Psalmist who said I will call upon the One, True God of heaven as long as I live. 

Jehovah will hear the downtrodden who call upon Him. 

Psalm 34:6  This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. 

Oh, how God loves us. Each sinner who hears the gospel of Christ and calls upon the Lord with repentant faith, shall be saved. Jehovah will hear that poor man and with resurrection power, will regenerate him. 

Thoughts to Ponder...

Colossians 4:2  Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving; 

Paul gives us a New Testament perspective on prayer that illustrates what the Psalmist is teaching us. 

The word "continue" means to be faithful in praying, to be persistent in it, to adhere to it. 

It means to take the time and have a place where one can give care to praying, with a constant readiness to pray. 

The word "watch" means giving strict attention to our prayer life so that we pray as an act of worship, and act of expressing our thanksgiving to God and an act of faithfulness to the Lord who saved us.

May the Spirit of God assist us when we pray by coming alongside each believer so that He might prompt our hearts in how we should pray. May we be known as a people who have fervent, effectual prayers.

Bob