July 13 - Pray A.M.

Overview of: Psalms

Today's Reading:
Psalms 1 – 5
SONGBOOK I : Psalms 1-41

Focus Verses: Psalm 5:1-3
1 Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my sighing. 2 Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray. 3 In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.

Insight:
Two words in this passage catch my attention today: morning and expectation. The first word speaks to practice and the second word speaks to motivation. First, morning prayers were routine for the psalmist. Making time to pray every morning was the norm. Secondly, the psalmist believed that God heard, considered, and answered his prayers. When he prayed, he prayed with the expectation that God would act--his prayers mattered.

Response and Action:
I will make regular times and patterns for prayer part of my daily life. I will make every effort to make and guard a time for prayer every morning. When I pray, I will pray believing that God hears and cares about my prayers. I will pray with expectation, knowing that somehow, some way, my prayers connect my heart, my needs, and my requests into the gracious and loving presence of God. I will lay my requests before Him.

Every morning mercies new
Fall as fresh as morning dew;
Every morning let us pay
Tribute with the early day:
For your mercies, God, are sure;
Your compassion does endure.
Amen

New Testament for Today: Mark 1:35-37
35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. 36 Simon and his companions went to look for him, 37 and when they found him, they exclaimed: "Everyone is looking for you!"
In Context: Mark 1

Proverb for Today: Prov. 13:12
"Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life."

Recommended Reading:
Learning to Pray Through the Psalms
by James Sire