The centrality of prayer

It is interesting to note that the man “after God’s own heart” is not one who has conquered the darker side of life. He is not a super saint whose spiritual maturity is a model for all the rest of us who are still struggling to learn some of the basics of the Christian life. Take prayer for instance. David seems to be unsure about God’s response so he pleads, “Hear me when I call,” and again, “Come quickly when I call” (v. 1). He both needs and desires the protection that only God can give. In v. 8 he reminds God that it is in him that he has taken refuge and prays that God will not “give him over to death.”
       There was a time when I felt that when a person invited Christ into his life he moved out of the uncertainty of this life and almost immediately enjoyed the victory over sin that corresponded to the reality that in Christ I was totally forgiven and perfect in his sight. It didn’t last because it didn’t match what I was experiencing in the real world. It was so helpful to learn that two of the outstanding people in the bible, David and Paul, admitted that their life was not as free from defeat as the preachers of “victorious living” promised. David, the psalmist, began the 141st with, “To you, O Lord, I call for help” and Paul confessed that he “didn’t do the good he wanted to,” but “kept on doing the evil he didn’t want to do”(Rom. 7:19).  I’m not suggesting that defeat is the norm for a child of God, but that our enemy, the Devil, is a master of deceit and is testing us on a continuing basis. Prayer becomes central for those who accept the demands of continuing growth in Christ.
       Psalm 141 reflects the seriousness of David’s prayer life. He recognizes that he needs God’s help when it comes to dealing with the forces of evil. But he is also concerned about temptation that arises from within and calls upon God to place a guard at the door of his mouth. It all comes to this: may the wicked be trapped in their own snares and may the psalmist pass by unharmed.

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​               ​Psalm 141   
 
To you, O Lord, I call for help
Hear me when I cry;     
Accept my prayer as an evening offering
I lift my hands on high.                
 
Post a guard at my mouth, O Lord
So my lips can’t ruin the day;
Don’t let my heart be drawn into sin
Keep me from wrong I pray.
 
When wicked leaders are thrown from the cliffs
And their bones left outside the grave;
Then the people will turn and accept as true
The words that to them I gave.
 
My eyes are fixed on you, O Lord
Protect me from on high;
Let the wicked be caught in the snares they have set
While I pass safely by.