40 Days of GRACE - 29

Dr Jim Brown's TruNorth Devotional
40 Days of GRACE
Day 29 | GOD ANSWERS OUR PRAYERS
GOD ANSWERS OUR PRAYERS

From Psalm 120
“1 I took my troubles to the Lord; I cried out to him, and he answered my prayer.
2 Rescue me, O Lord, from liars and from all deceitful people. 6 I am tired of living among people who hate peace. I search for peace.” 
(NLT)

This psalm could have been written today, right?  We are surrounded by “liars and deceitful people” even at the highest levels, just like the psalmist was in his day.

One Bible commentator said that “troubles” or “distress” “add wings to our devotions.” This means that when things are going GREAT, typically, we feel less the need to pray. When things are going poorly, we pray to our Lord God to help relieve and solve the problem. It’s worth noting that even our Lord Jesus cried out to His Father more earnestly and sweated drops of blood when He agonized just before the cross.

Fortunately, our LORD “God is FULL of grace” (John 1:16), which is a huge PLUS for those of us who are Followers of Christ.  It means that HE WILL LISTEN to us, His children, when we pray for relief and rescue.

Additionally, these verses imply that we must AVOID becoming like the liars and, deceitful people and the haters of peace that are all around us.

Let me ask: how are you praying for our country today?  I know things change, but as I write this, we are – as a nation – in a mess.  Our national debt is beyond “out of control,” and the desire of many is to abandon ALL Biblical values (e.g. the Ten Commandments and Bibles and prayer in school); these are just two examples of values that are being abandoned en masse, but which helped America to become strong and a leader of the free world.

Are you taking advantage of the grace the LORD offers to bring your issues, problems, fears, and whatever is troubling you to Him?  Don’t wait.  He wants to hear from you.

Prayer: LORD, forgive me for praying much less than I need to and should.  Help me, nudge me by your Spirit, to carve out more time with You.  Amen.
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