2 Kings 6:1-7:20
Acts 15:36-16:15
Psalm 142:1-7
Proverbs 17:24-25
Psalm 142:1 I cry aloud to the Lord;
I lift up my voice to the Lord for mercy.
2 I pour out before him my complaint;
before him I tell my trouble.
Back to yesterday's post and our prayers being a pleasing aroma to the Lord. We need to be praying in God's will and putting Him first. And we need to recognize temptations and confess our sins. But He also wants us to come to Him with our troubles and complaints. After all He knows what we are going through and what we are feeling so we can be totally honest with Him. That pleases Him. But when we do cry out to Him we should be seeking His mercy. Mercy does not always mean freedom from our troubles. But it does mean not walking through them alone. He is always with us and He sometimes brings others to walk with us as a physical presence and comfort in those times.
Psalm 142:3 When my spirit grows faint within me,
it is you who watch over my way.
In the path where I walk
people have hidden a snare for me.
4 I look for someone to come and help me,
but no one gives me a passing thought!
No one will help me;
no one cares a bit what happens to me.
5 Then I pray to you, O Lord.
I say, “You are my place of refuge.
You are all I really want in life.
Sometimes it's a struggle because the troubles of life will burden us so that our "spirit grows faint within [us]". Sometimes there is no one here to walk with us. We may be looking for some human to care enough to help us but in fact sometimes no one will help and it feels like no one cares what happens to us. And those who do care what happens to us are only looking for our downfall. What we need is for our hearts to be surrendered to Him in trust. That is when we need to draw close to Him. That is how when we go through times that seem hopeless we can rest in knowing that He is there to watch over our way. It doesn't matter when there is apparently no one on the earth who cares for us or even thinks about us because He is all we really want or need.
Cry out to Him with your complaints and troubles but do it seeking His mercy and allow Him to draw you close to Him and walk you through those troubles. Look to Him for the way to walk the path you are on so that you can navigate the snares that have been set to distract you and pull you way from God. Don't look to the world to help you and care from you. The world is full of failable humans who will disappoint. Look to the lover of your soul who will never leave you or forsake you.
5 Then I pray to you, O Lord.
I say, “You are my place of refuge.
You are all I really want in life.