What Do Your Prayers Reflect?

Consider Psalm 72. It’s a prayer of Solomon.
It saddened me when I read it.

Give the king your justice, O God and Your righteousness to the royal son!
May he judge your people with righteousness and Your poor with justice!
Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness!
May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor!
May they fear you while the sun endures and as long as the moon throughout all generations!
May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass, like showers that water the earth!
In his days may the righteous flourish and peace abound, till the. moon be no more!
May he have dominion from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth!
May desert tribes bow down before him, and his enemies lick the dust!
May the kings of Tarshish and of the coastlands render him tribute;  may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts!
May all kings fall down before him, all nations serve him!
For he delivers the needy when he calls,the poor and him who has no helper.
He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy.
From oppression and violence he redeems their life, and precious is their blood in his sight.
Long may he live; may gold of Sheba be given to him! May prayer be made for him continually, and blessings invoked for him all the day!
May there be abundance of grain in the land; on the ops of the mountains may it wave; may its fruit be like Lebanon; and may people blossom in the cities like the grass of the field!
May his name endure forever, his fame continue as long as the sun!
May people be blessed in him, all nations call him blessed!
Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, Who alone does wondrous things.
Blessed be His glorious Name forever; May the whole earth be filled with His glory!
Amen and Amen!

(I know you skipped it, now go back and read it!)
Know what I noticed when I read it?
That it’s all about the king.
Give me. Give me. Give me.
Don’t get me wrong, they were good requests.
Shouldn’t a king want to judge with equity and justice and provide for his people? Yes.
Requests about his people. 
Requests about his enemies.
Requests about his kingdom.

But it was all about what he would get.

Then a token acknowledgement of Who God was.

Know why it saddened me?
Because it reminded me of my prayers.
Give me. Give me. Give me.
We need rain, God. 
We need mercy and forgiveness for our country.
Help me just be kind.

What a contrast to David’s prayers.
David spent over 40 years of his life running from Saul, who tried to kill him.
David’s family, not only his wives and children, but his parents were under his protection because of what Saul would do to them.
Yet David prayed for the king’s long life. He also prayed that God would vindicate him, but it was God doing it.
Though he knew he would reign as king after Saul.
David didn’t extol his great feats of battle or his great escapes from Saul, he often told God he didn’t understand, but praised God anyway. 
David didn’t always do what was right, but he gave his mistakes to God for Him to fix.

David’s prayers reflect a heart broken, needy, yet praising God.
His prayers tell more about God then about what he did or needed.
David was a man after God’s own heart. 
His entire heart was given to God.
He wanted what God wanted—to give God praise.
His prayers reflect that.

Solomon had great talent—Wasn’t he the wisest man who ever lived?
Solomon did great things for God—Didn’t he built God’s glorious temple?
Solomon wanted wisdom to rule his kingdom, but didn’t use that wisdom when he married foreign women (many times) against God's command.
Solomon had the appearance of doing right, but gave only half his heart to God.
He focused on what he wanted. 
His prayers reflect that.

What do your prayers reflect?

I write about what matters...to you---
women, wives and moms---
about your family, faith and future.
I write about what's hard, what helps and what heals.
I show you how it's done. And not done.
I hold your hand as you find what matters to the Savior.
And let go of those things that mattered to you, but not to Him.
I write about what matters...to Him.
               Sonya Contreras

Faith
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