Good morning.
We pray in many ways for many things, and there is no prayer that is offered to God in a genuine, heartfelt manner that is not worthy and pleasing to Him. But today I would like to suggest a kind of prayer that is a bit different. It is a prayer that requires commitment and courage.
It is a frequent teaching that the way of life for a Christian person is to “follow Jesus”. We understand that this means that we accept His will, His path, His guidance, which often means leaving our own will and agenda behind. Jesus is our Good Shepherd. We rely on Him to show us the way and to keep us on the right path. At least, that is what we say that we intend.
But do we really want the Lord to do what is required to keep us at His side, to keep us always on that path of righteousness?
If the answer is “yes!”, then we need to begin with heartfelt prayer. An example of a prayer that is exactly in keeping with what we are considering today is found in Psalm 139:23-24
Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
This is a brief and fairly simple prayer. All of Psalm 139 should be read for better context, for it tells us of God’s complete knowledge of us and of His omnipresence. But the Psalm ends with these verses that I believe give us an example of a challenging prayer.
We are to invite God to know us more, encourage Him to examine us thoroughly, plead with Him to discover our weaknesses. Why? So that He will correct us and carefully lead us along the paths that are within His perfect will.
Such a prayer takes courage, but can any of us question whether such a prayer is worthy and needed to make today a better day?
Vern