Give Me! Give Me!

Psalm 86:1-2,6-8,10-13,17
1Hear, O LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. 2 Guard my life, for I am devoted to you. You are my God; save your servant who trusts in you. 6 Hear my prayer, O LORD; listen to my cry for mercy. 7 In the day of my trouble I will call to you, for you will answer me. 8 Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord; no deeds can compare with yours. 10 For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God. 11 Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. 12 I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever. 13 For great is your love toward me; you have delivered me from the depths of the grave. 17 Give me a sign of your goodness, that my enemies may see it and be put to shame, for you, O LORD, have helped me and comforted me.

Do you ever feel like you're always asking something of God? Whether it's for ourselves, family, community, church, we're asking the Lord to help, intervene, and provide. It seems there are so many things to take to the Lord: healing from sickness, release from addiction, salvation to be received, stressful work environments, providing a job or housing, marital restoration, children's safety, insight to our personal ministry, guidance for church and country leaders, peace in the world or in our homes, deliverance from debt and financial struggles. Have I missed anything or did I hit most of the basics in general?

The thing is the Lord wants us to come to Him. He tells us so in 1 Peter 5:7 to cast ALL your anxiety on Him because He cares for you!!! When we seek Him with our concerns, it is showing we know and believe in His power and control over everything. I am not going to ask my seven year old niece to fix my dishwasher but I will call the repair man. I call upon the one I know can fix it. We know God can solve our problems so we call upon Him.

I believe God is well pleased when we seek Him for help instead of relying on our inability to do it. The solutions may not be what we expect but it will be the best answer. We may hope the solution to our malfunctioning dishwasher is a simple clog; therefore, it can be a disappointment to know it's actually a bad pump and motor. (Ask me I know.) The solution may not be the most fun, the easiest, or the quickest but it is the BEST - that's why we are to call on the Best : our Almighty God.

This idea of "give me...give me" came to me as I re-read Psalm 86, which I had read a couple months ago. I had underlined some words that shouted out to me. I posted some of the scripture above. If you examine the entire text you will see what David is asking of God: answer me, hear me, guard my life, have mercy on me, bring joy, listen to my cry, teach me, give me undivided heart, grant strength, give me a sign of your goodness. I thought man David is asking, asking, asking. Though everything he's asking is honorable and good, it's still asking. I feel guilty to always go to the Lord with an asking heart and realize that we also need to go just praising and thanking Him for simply Who He is. I make it a point to have times of nothing but praise and thanks when I enter His Throne.

Though David was asking a lot from God (again all wonderful things to ask), let's also look at what he said between his asking. I am devoted to You, You are my God, I trust in You, I will walk in Your truth, I will fear Your name, I will praise You, I will glorify Your name, You have delivered me, You've helped and comforted me. David is revealing his part of his relationship with God and what he is doing to show his honor and trust in the Lord. He is showing reverance to the Lord and confirming his faith in the Lord. He also says: You are forgiving and good, abounding in love and faithfulness, there is none like You, no deeds compare with Yours, all nations will worship You, You are great, You do marvelous deeds, You are God alone, for great is Your love, You're a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger. These words show David's praise and thanksgiving to God. He is adoring the Father and praising Him for His greatness.

David gives us a great example that our prayers should not only be asking but they should also be full of praise and thanks for Who God is and what He's done. Our God truly IS awesome. Look over David's words again. There is NONE like our God and He IS marvelous and full of love in all His ways. I see two song titles just in David's praise: "You are God Alone" and "There is None Like You".

There is none like the Father, is there? Praise be to Him. What a privelege to call such a compassionate, gracious, and loving God our God and Savior!!! Aren't you thankful today that God is slow to anger? He doesn't strike back at us when we royally mess things up. He doesn't get mad when we take the wrong turn and mess up His plan. Rather, He so lovingly and gently corrects us and guides us back to His path. He makes good out of our messes...can you believe that? (Romans 8:28)

There are three things I say to God each morning as I stumble out of bed. Lord, if I do nothing else today, may I love you more. Lord, may You increase and I decrease. Lord, send someone across my path today that I can minister to in Your name. I try to make these thoughts my first so that the Lord can be first on my mind and stay there throughout the day.

Be Blessed in Him,
Paula