My Prayer – Psalm 65

 

November 4, 1998

My Prayer – Psalm 65

Notes from a study of Andrew Murray’s book “Abide in Christ.”

 

Psalm 65:1-13 (paraphrase, personalization and application)

1.  Lord I know that I do not stand in silent submissive wonder in true reverence before you often enough.  I am always coming with my needs and my wants, desiring that You make my life easier and more comfortable.  How selfish can I be?  I am here now because I am hurting inside - not knowing what to do or not to do.  Turn my thoughts away from myself.  Cause my spirit to burst forth in praise to You.

 

2.  O that all people would come to you in prayer.  For you do hear every cry, whether it be audible or just a moan in our spirits.

 

3.  You are the ultimate of compassion.  When we go our own ways, not thinking before we speak or act, You forgive and cleanse us.  Thank you.  Jesus has made full atonement for all our sin – past, present, and future.  Praise God

 

4.  I choose to come near to dwell in Your presence.  I know you will satisfy my heart, fill me with Your goodness.  Enable me to focus on You and not my puny problems

 

5.  Your words and actions are fearful and terrify those who do not know You.  But because we know each other You cause my heart to sing Your praises.  You fill me with gladness.  You are my hope and confidence.  In You I choose to trust.

 

6.  Surely You, who made the mountains, can handle things here for me.  You stilled the stormy sea with your voice.  Now still the storm within me today.

 

7-8. I know You do not want Your beloved ones to live in fear of Your power.  Your presence makes the morning and evenings shout for joy.  Hallelujah!  Amen!

 

9.  You saturate the earth to enrich it.  You are the river of Life – living water for our spirits, the Bread of Life for our sustenance. 

 

10.  You carefully tend the fields that we may have food for our bodies, but even more important is the provision for our spirits.

 

11.  You have crowned my years with Your bounty; with physical and spiritual goodness

 

12.  My pastures are luxuriant, dripping with moisture and filled with joy.

 

13.  May I shout for joy at Your faithfulness to this lowly servant.  May we sing together with love for one another.  

Purification and Hope in Christ (I John 3:2-3)

Mom's journal,  February 2, 2010  

I John 3:2-3 (Amplified)  

2  Beloved (Jean), we are now God's children;  it is not yet disclosed (made clear) what we shall be (hereafter), but we know that when He comes, and is manifested, we shall resemble and be like Him, for we shall see Him just as He really is.  

3  And everyone who as this HOPE (resting) on Him, cleanses (purifies) himself just as He is pure (chaste, undefiled, and guiltless).  

Jesus, I praise and thank you for this Hope - that one day we will be like you.  The only way I am able to cleanse and purify myself is to allow Your Spirit who lives in me to cleanse me.  It is Your shed blood that washes away the sins, guilt, and shame and makes me acceptable in Your eyes.  

May I allow Your Spirit free reign and control.  May I hear You when You speak truth to me, when You point out the error of my ways, that I may be cleansed and purified as I  come into the presence of Our Father together.  You have given me the robe of Your Holy Righteousness.  I do not fully understand,but You have said it and I believe you.  

Sing with the Spirit and Understanding

Monday, October 30, 2006  From a study on worship from Jack Hayford's book "A Heart of Praise"

Psalm 47:6-7  “Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises! For God is the King over all of the earth; sing praises in a skillful psalm, and with understanding.”

I Cor 14:15  “I will sing with the spirit and I will also sing with understanding.”

How often do we merely mouth the words without ritual understanding?  Certainly in our worship leaders we need to cultivate our best talents and hone our skills, but we need the Holy Spirit’s enablement and sensitivity in understanding.  That causes our song to soar.  It can then flow to God’s honor and glory through a dedicated single-minded heart and not through a technically accurate, but double-minded musician whose spirit is not in tune with the Spirit.

Our singing in a worship service is not a preliminary “warm up” to the main event called a sermon.  It is an integral part of the worship, made vibrantly alive in us as we sing with the Spirit and with understanding. 

Psalm 30:11-12

Psalm 33: 1-5

Isaiah 12

Acts 16: 25-34

Worship and the Meaning of Life

Friday, October 27, 2006  From a study on worship from Jack Hayford's book "A Heart of Praise"

Psalm 90:12  “So teach us (me) to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”

When life seems hard, defeating, unfulfilling, and aimless, we must be as honest in our prayers as the psalmist was.  Cry out to God, not in dark unbelief, but in the light of HOPE.  Worship God!

The fact that our heart isn’t overflowing with blessings or abundance need not be a hindrance to our worship.  We should never stay away from our public, or private, worship because ‘we don’t feel like worshiping.’

Even in the dark times we must realize the vast power of worship to give our lives meaning and purpose.  If we surrender to the liar who is veiled in feelings of despair and aimlessness, we will bow before hopelessness, exchanging the Almighty God for a lesser god.

When we worship God even in despair, we defy the enemy and declare our valuing of the good, the best – the Lord.  There is no more worthy purpose to praise and no more worthy time for it. 

In worship of our Lord putting God first enables us to focus on His Love, our blessings, instead of temporary feelings of despair.

The despairing moments will pass.  We will overcome by remaining in God’s presence.  In our times of confusion and aimlessness, remember that the power of worshiping in the darkness will enable us to order our days aright and to finish them, not with a sigh, but with a SHOUT.

Lord, grant me, as I praise You, a vision of who I am and what I am to do.  Enable me to order my days in ways that glorify Your name, and even when I cannot see my way, to trust Your providence. 

In Jesus, my Lord! Amen

Enter His Courts with an Offering, Too

Wednesday, October 25, 2006  From a study on worship from Jack Hayford's book "A Heart of Praise"

Psalm 96: 7,8  Give to the Lord, oh kindreds of people, give to the Lord glory and strength.  Give to the Lord the glory due His Name; bring an offering and come into His courts. 

It is impossible to talk about worship in the biblical framework without talking about offering to God our material substance – our money.  He doesn’t need it, but the fact is, giving our financial resources is a proper response that opens the way to the spiritual law of giving and receiving. 

Giving generously is the measure of how generously we can receive, how open we are to the impouring of God’s blessing. 

II Cor 9:6  “Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.”   God wants to pour into our lives His blessings, but our capacity to receive depends on whether we ‘let the plug out’ at the giving end of our lives.   We are created to be channels of blessings. 

Here is the process:

*  He provides

*  We trust and give

*  He blesses our gifts

*  He fills us again with His abundant provision

God’s intended blessings of material resources are far more abundant than we can imagine or ever repay.

Let praiseful obedience break any stingy spirit and according to His generosity and grace let us worship with abounding financial gifts of gratitude.   

Jack Hayford's words say it well, "God of good and gracious gifts, I praise You for blessing me with so any good things"   

Increase my capacity to be content with what I receive, and as You enable me to become a generous giver, make me an example of one You can trust to give aboundingly as You have increased my ability to praise You in this way.  

Through Him who gave His all for me - AMEN!