“Bend down, O LORD, and hear my prayer; answer me, for I need your help.”—Psalm 86:1 (NLT)
The Book of Psalms have words of encouragement for a weary soul. Reading them give me hope. They reveal God’s love, faithfulness and how He hears our prayers. As I read many of David’s prayers crying out to God in despair it helps me to hold onto that hope.
“God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.”—Psalm 46:1 The Psalms are a good place to find scriptures to strengthen our faith. The only thing that can hold me up in hard times is the grace of my Heavenly Father’s love.
Look at David’s words in Psalm 86:1 “Bend down, O LORD, and hear my prayer; answer me, for I need your help.”The imagery of these words David spoke are ones to which I cling. What a beautiful picture I see in my head of Jesus bending down to hear my prayers.
God gave me this vision again this week in Psalm 102:2. “Don’t turn away from me in my time of distress. Bend down to listen, and answer me quickly when I call to you. (NLT) I read this scripture the morning after a difficult day with my mom. I love God’s perfect timing in my Bible reading plan which has been immersing me in the Psalms. They are giving me the comfort and hope my soul longs to hear.
Reading about God’s faithfulness to David despite his sinful choices, I am reminded that God does the same thing for me. Because we all matter to God, so do our prayers. God is always faithful to hear them. Our time in His presence is never a waste of time.
Some of the Psalms are laments. They teach us how to cry out to God. David wrote many of them. He openly questioned God. How long Lord?—Psalm 13:1 He wasn’t afraid to be honest with God. It is okay to question Him. Crying out helps ease the pain because we can release our emotions to Our Mighty God.
In our despair, as hard as it might be to open our Bible, this is where we can find our hope in His Word. If you know the story of David, He really blew it (2 Samual 11), but God heard his cries and restored him. Reading some of the Psalms he wrote during his distress, show us how we too have the same opportunity as David to bare our soul to our Heavenly Father.
It is okay to ask God hard questions. He can handle them. We find Him in our sufferings. Our raw honesty create an intimacy with Him. It brings us into a deeper relationship with God. It isn’t disrespecting God when we question what we are going through. If it concerns us, it concerns Him too. He already knows what we are thinking, so no need to hide our raw emotions from Him. He wants to take them from us.
Father God,
You are my Comforter. You give me strength when I am weak. You are the hope for the hopeless. I know You are holding me up with Your comfort, strength and love. I can’t do it on my own. Thank You for Your Words of hope found in the Book of Psalms. I lift those up to You who are in a pit of despair. I ask for You to place people in their pathway to shine the light and love of Jesus in their dark day. I pray these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.
May Verse
“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”—James 5:16.
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