Praying Psalm 86

I speak with confidence when I say that we have all been overwhelmed to the point of giving up at some point in our lives. Our jobs are challenging, our families are irritating, unexpected bills or circumstances arise, and then in the middle of all that we stub our toe on the table leg and just add to our misery!

I’m in a season of challenges. As I wrote that statement I realized that my life these past four years has been sort of like walking a mountain ridge. Up a bit, steep decline, up a bit, plateau, steep incline followed by steep decline …. up and down, down and up, and yet through it all God has never failed me. Any time when I’ve felt far from His presence it has been of my own doing, wallowing in the depths with those old biddies, Bitterness, Anger, Frustration and Blame, whom I’ve written about before.

It’s so very easy to let the circumstances of our day cloud our mind and to turn, for just a moment, away from the peace we have with God. When the difficulties stretch day over day, month over month, the moments we turn away become minutes, hours, days, even months. It’s all too easy to let despair become a daily companion and to feel like God is nowhere around. I’ve allowed myself to do this more times than I care to admit in the past several months. Work-related stress, caregiver fatigue, and life in general have really gotten me down.

While it’s better to make every effort to avoid allowing ourselves to turn away, we are only human. We simply were not created with the ability to handle everything that comes at us alone. We were created to be companions with God. One of the ways we can stay close to Him and feel His presence is to read the scriptures often, write them on our hearts, think on them and allow God to speak to us through them. Prayer is another way to bring ourselves closer to Him, sharing our joys and our sorrows. Scripture and prayer open our hearts to allow God to work through us in the tough times as well as the easy times – remember, He is a friend like no other!

Yesterday I read Psalm 86 and before I got past the first verse I was praying the psalm over my life. This is one of my very favorite psalms, and I’ve prayed it more times than I can count these past few years. The following verses sang from the pages and brought a peace to my heart that I truly needed in that moment.

‘Incline Your ear, O Lord, and answer me; For I am afflicted and needy. Be gracious to me, O Lord, For to You I cry all day long. Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; And give heed to the voice of my supplications! There is no one like You among the gods, O Lord, Nor are there any works like Yours. All nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord, And they shall glorify Your name. For You are great and do wondrous deeds; You alone are God. T each me Your way, O Lord; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name.’ (Psalms 86:1, 3, 6, 8-11)

I encourage you to dust off your Bible, open the cover and start reading about our wonderful God; I started with the New Testament to learn about Jesus’ life. If you find prayer challenging and are not sure what to say, just talk about your day, “God, my day started out really good and then something happened,” like you would with your girlfriend. I promise, the more you talk, the easier it will become. He’s waiting to hear your voice and to become part of your life. Build your relationship with Him one day at a time, a couple months from now you won’t remember why you hesitated.

Thank you, Jesus, for leading me to read Psalm 86 yesterday. I NEEDED that passage, that prayer, at just that moment, and you knew that I did. Thank you for leading me to share it with those who may read this article, I’m certain there is someone out there who needs it as much as I did. You alone are God! To you, Lord, I lift up my soul and the souls of those reading. In these days of trouble, I call on You and I know You will answer. You alone are God! Turn to me, show mercy, give me Your strength as I walk through this valley. Teach me and unite my heart to Your will. Touch the hearts of all those who are struggling Lord – we cannot do this life alone. You designed us to be with You, help us to open our hearts to You today. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Photo by Pablo Heimplatz on Unsplash