“To the choirmaster: for the flutes. A Psalm of David. Give ear to my words, O LORD; consider my groaning. Give attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you do I pray.” Psalm 5:1-2
Devotion:
There are different ideas in our world about what prayer really is. Some would say that prayer is sending out positive thoughts for others. Some would say that prayer is thinking and meditating in your own head about the past or the future. Others would say that prayer is the practice of gratitude. But here is what David demonstrates for us: prayer is pouring our hearts out towards the living God.
We see this from both sides in Psalm 5. On the one hand, David shows us that while prayer doesn’t necessarily have to be eloquent or premeditated speech, it always involves pouring out our heart to God. He describes this in different ways, “words,” “groaning,” and “sound of my cry.” Each of these is slightly different, but they all communicate an emptying of the heart. As long as we are holding things in, we aren’t praying about them.
But probably the most important thing about prayer is who it is that we are emptying our heart out towards. David says that he prays to “my King and my God.” True prayer must be a real communication to the real God. This is what makes prayer so precious: we actually know the King of the Universe and we actually have a God who is there. In prayer, we get to unburden our souls to the one who belongs to us and to the one to whom we belong.
Prayer:
Lord, sometimes we don’t even know the best words to use, but we know that You want to hear from us. We get in trouble when we get stuck in our own heads, and so we turn to You.
Our sins are many, so forgive us, we pray.
Our troubles are many, so save us, we pray.
Our fears are many, so calm us, we pray.
Our longings are many, so satisfy us, we pray.
We are so thankful that You teach us to call you “my King” and “my God” because it shows us that we belong to You. Your nearness to us is life. We cast our burdens upon You because we acknowledge that only You can ultimately handle them all. In Jesus’ name, we worship and pray. Amen.
