Episode 49: Psalm 37:3-4
Transcription
Today’s prayer is Psalm 37:3-4
Trust in the Lord and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
Take delight in the Lord,
and He will give you the desires of your heart.
Let’s pray together.
Jesus, so often I think that we believe that in order to do good, we have to trust ourselves. We have to grow and push and be and know and further the cause of our own understanding. But this is not what Your word tells us here. The extension of doing good is preceded by the act of trusting You. I struggle with this more than anything else in this world. Every day, every hour, every minute, You have to remind me that You are good and You are worthy of trust and that You have never failed me. Forgive me for my unbelief.
Please build up trust in me; help me to see the goodness in Your acts. Remind me of the history of Your love. Despite every trial, every tragedy, every torment, You are still at work. Show me that the heart that is open, the one that trusts, the one that forgives, is the one that can go and do good. It’s the heart that sees the evil and is not overwhelmed by it, because it knows You are in control. And it desires to be Yours, to do the good You seek to pour out over Your creation. It knows that it is part of the answer. Father, let this kind of heart, open, giving, vulnerable, other-oriented, be my heart. Mold it after Yours.
I want safety, LORD. I want rest. I want everything that I deem to be necessary. But, instead of this, reorient my thoughts so that I want what You want for me. So that I view the world around me as Yours, the topography precarious to a broken human, but no match for an omnipotent Creator. You shaped the landscape of my life and You can guide me through every dip and valley. Be the watcher of my steps and the signs that I see clearly before me.
And so often, God, I come to You only for help, only in desperate, grasping need. My heart is a sucking maw of broken selfishness, but please remind me of the simple pleasure of who You are. I want to spend time with You because You are the best company in the universe. You are delightful, teach me that delight. Open wide the unending expanse of Your personality, and show me You. Show me in the daily time I often so grudgingly give. Tempt me back for more and more and more. Show me You in the huge world of wonders You concocted for our pleasure. Show me You in the varied cornucopia of humanity You created to reflect Yourself. Show me You in Your word, the spoken jewels of inspiration, protected and carried for us down the long line of time. Show me You in Your Spirit, the gifts and wonders and miracles and authority You placed in Your believers.
After all of this, after I have trusted and I have acted for You and I have delighted in You, then give me the desire of my heart. Because then my desires are formed by my relationship with You; they are good, crafted by unity of heart and mind. I want to want only what You want. I don’t right now. Oh, I only want what I want. I want what I think is good for me. But teach me what is perfect and help me to think on such things. Let them sink into the deep recesses of my heart and mind, to spread and grow and heal. And I know that You filled me with purpose and with need and with a future. So give those gifts to me and help me to use them well. Only then will I be able to be content in the things that I think are so necessary. They must be refined by You first. I must be refined.
Join me today, friends, and lay down Your rights to what You want. At least start with the words. He has to do the rest. Reform our hearts so that our stories are reshaped into tales of Your wonder and Your goodness. May we be the ambassadors of good, because we are so confident in who You are. Take away the belief of our heads, and forge it into true belief, rock-solid, steady, piercing through every lie the devil tries to feed us. May this belief be our armor, melded into our very flesh, showcasing to the world that we know who the LORD is, we believe in Him, we trust Him, we are confident that His purpose prevails. We know this because we know You and because You are sweetness and goodness and everything pure and worthy.
Build trust in us, and help us to surrender to the glory of Your presence. Let us love You with everything we have, and knit our hearts to Yours. Not our will, Father, but Yours.
I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
