The Psalms and The Power of Simple Prayer

In my daily Bible reading, I finished reading through the Psalms this week. I always stand in awe of the prayers I read there. Psalm 91 is my favorite reminding me that God is my refuge and my fortress. I also love Psalm 100 which starts out "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all you lands!" I love this verse because it doesn't say "make a melodious/pleasant/harmonious sound" - no, it just says make a joyful noise, which is good news for those of us who love to sing praises to the Lord but can't carry a tune in a bucket!

I often feel that my prayers fall short in many areas, especially the poetic sense. More often my prayers reflect this one that I saw in a cartoon several years ago. A little girl is kneeling by the bed and prays: Oh God of second chances and new beginnings, here I am . . . again.

I also completed Joyce Meyer's book The Power of Simple Prayer: How to Talk with God about Everything. This is an excellent book on prayer. I most like the fact that she begins by emphasizing that prayer is personal and there is no one set way to pray. She then goes on to discuss the many different types of prayer, keys to powerful prayer, and hindrances to prayer.

I love this quote from the book: "Personally, I would be more concerned if the devil never came against me. This is because if he is not bothering me, then I am probably not bothering him!" Lately I think I must really be bothering the devil because he is bothering me. I recently had a day where I was struggling emotionally and called my dear friend Becky to ask her opinion and advice. Becky listened and then prayed with me, and I am thrilled to report that God answered our prayers in even bigger and better ways than we asked.

However inadequate I feel my prayers are, just in the past two weeks, I have had tremendous answers to several specific prayer requests - one that I have been praying for many months, one that has burdened my heart in the last several weeks, and one that was answered the very same day the need arose. Just a simple reminder that God Is Good!!!

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be aceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14