Do Not Be Silent
A Prayer of King David…
Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God,
for to You I pray. In the morning, O LORD, You hear my voice;
In the morning I lay my requests before You,
and I wait in expectation. 1
How’s your prayer life? Is it restricted to critical needs—something you want…a job, direction, a friend— or something you don’t…a divorce, an illness, a debt. Yet God encourages us to pray about everything. He doesn’t want us to be silent. Here’s how not to be.
Listen to my cry for help. Prayer is most often a sincere expression of need or desperation, “a cry for help”. But then we hear, I can make it on my own…I’ve got to pull myself up…God helps those who help themselves. These are lies! God wants us to step out in faith, but not faith in ourselves. God wants sincere trust in Him.
My King and my God, for to You I pray. Trust requires something uncomfortable for most…dependence. We want to make our own decisions and do as we think best. But prayer is not about getting an opinion. We speak to One with power and authority. The Hebrew word kiy is translated In the verse above as “for”, but it actually means “with no doubt”. God wants absolute dependence on Him.
Don’t just talk about praying…Do it!
In the morning, O LORD, You hear my voice. When we pray reveals how important we believe prayer to be. Do we pray only at a special time or place, or only when we happen to think about it? Hal Harris, one of our directors, tries to pray with others as soon as they ask for prayer. Why? Because time is critical. God wants immediate urgency from us.
In the morning I lay my requests before You. Prayer is also about attitude. It is a time for asking, not demanding or manipulating. There are no mystical words that force God to do anything. There is only one Sovereign, one King, one Lord. We follow Him. He does not follow us. God wants true humbleness within us.
And wait. When I was younger, I tended not to be content with waiting, and sometimes my zeal to urge others on got in the way of encouraging them. So one day I asked God to teach me patience. Turns out having patience is like developing a muscle…you have to exercise it. And He has given me countless opportunities over the years. God wants active patience through Him.
Rush to the one Who always listens.
In expectation. When my children were young, they’d come with arms outstretched and I would give them a big hug. Often they would look at me with big loving eyes and say, “Candy?” They didn’t always get the candy. But they always knew I would hug them. God wants unquestioned assurance.
Prayer is an incredible thing. But it is not to be handled carelessly. Jesus once asked, Why do you call me, Lord, but don’t do what I say? 2 In the same way, how can we pray to God but make no effort to follow Him? It’s like saying, “I will not do what you want me to do, but there’s something I want you to do for me.” We aren’t wasting His time, we are wasting ours.
I encourage you to pray…with sincere trust, absolute dependence, immediate urgency, true humbleness, active patience, and unquestioned assurance. Rush to the one Who always listens. God will answer. And when you are weak, even in prayer, He will be your strength.
Ciloa Forever!
Chuck
Chuck Graham is Founder and Executive Director of Ciloa, an international ministry devoted to sharing God’s encouragement and teaching others how to “encourage one another as long as it is called Today!” He is also an author, speaker, teacher, and encourager. Chuck and his wife, Beverly, live in Lawrenceville, Georgia, USA. You can learn more about Chuck and Ciloa at www.Ciloa.org.
Footnotes: (1) Read Psalm 5:2-3. David wrote this prayer after he had become a mighty king. Yet even he needed God. (2) Read Luke 6:46.
Pictures: Banner: Prayer, photographer unknown, from the blog “Three Ways God Uses the Prayers of His People” by Kristen Wetherell (8-16-2017), kristenwetherell.com. (1) David Praying, artist unknown, from “David Prayed In The Morning” by Carolyn Molica (3-4-2018), wingsajourneyinfaith.wordpress.com. (2) I Am With You, from “There Is a Place for You” by Wendy Palau, share.hopewithgod.com/devo/aplaceforyou, Adobe Stock. (3) Man Praying at Sunset, photo by EVERST, Adobe Stock.
