Pray the Word

Is your spirit overwhelmed within you? David's was.
Are there times when it feels like the Lord is distant from you? David knew such times.
Do the cares of this life overwhelm your mind? David knew the feeling.

In Psalm 143, David gave us a model prayer for such times. He knew what it meant to feel all these things. He knew fear, he knew distress, he knew confusion, he knew oppression. David knew trouble. And David knew that the answer to trouble is prayer. Read Psalm 143 today. You'll see David asking that God would:

1. Answer him quickly (vs. 7) - the need was urgent. Do you need God to answer you quickly today? Ask Him.
   
2. Let him experience the mercy, the unfailing love of God again (vs. 8) - David needed to "feel" God's love in his life. Do you need that today? Ask God for it.
3. Show him the way he should go (vs. 8). Are you wandering? Need directions? God has the map - ask Him for direction.
4. Teach him to do God's will (vs. 10). Just what does God want from you? What is His will for your life? Ask Him.
   
5. Preserve his life, and bring him out of trouble. (vs. 11) We usually don't need encouragement to pray when we're in trouble - that's when it comes somewhat naturally. Even so - are you in such a state? Ask Him.
   

Now I don't know that Psalm 143 and Psalm 144 are in chronological order. However, they sound like it when you read them together. David is crying out in prayer in Psalm 143, and then in Psalm 144:1 he is shouting in triumph "Blessed be the Lord, my strength!"

I encourage you this morning to learn to pray the prayers of the Bible. David's prayer here is a wonderful example. And when we learn to pray the way the Bible teaches us to pray, we will, like David, experience the triumph of seeing those prayers answered. We will learn, as David did, that "happy is that people whose God is the Lord." (Psalm 144:15)