O Lord, I call upon Thee; hasten to me! Give ear to my voice when I call to Thee! 2 May my prayer be counted as incense before Thee; the lifting up of my hands as the evening offering. 3 Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips. 4 Do not incline my heart to any evil thing, to practice deeds of wickedness with men who do iniquity; and do not let me eat of their delicacies.

What is prayer to you? How do you perceive it? For too many, prayer is some kind of ritual that we follow without regard for what it really should be. Prayer is of course, talking to God but the proper concept of devotional and confessional prayer begins with the proper concept of God and his place in our lives. Without the proper respect for God as our Lord and as our master, with the inherent right to control our lives, prayer cannot accomplish its intended purpose. God does not exist for our benefit but we exist for his glory. We are not his purpose b ut rather he should be our purpose for living. This means that we study his word (the Bible) and store it in our hearts. We submit to his will. We respect the authority of scripture, not because it is tradition or “church” related but because it is the mind of God revealed to mankind. Paul said: “it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.”

The Psalmist lived in a time when animal sacrifices and grain offerings were done on a regular basis. This was their
way of approaching God (according to his will for them). His plea concerning prayer is that it will be as an offering to God. In this way he humbles himself before God with the realization that he is privileged indeed to have the opportunity to even approach the God of heaven and the universe. While we are told that we can come to God with boldness thru the blood of Jesus, we must still understand that this is not from our own doing but is because God has granted it to be so. We are his children and he loves us but we are to be obedient to him.

Notice how the Psalmist first pleads that his lips and life be pure before God and asks for God’s assistance in this. His desire was not to please himself but to mold his lif e to conform to the image of his creator. When we have this kind
of attitude of respect and humility we are in the right position to petition God for our needs and our desires.

O God, help me to humble myself before you. I know that there is nothing that I can offer to you that is not yours already, except my willing heart of devotion. Help me to yield my will to yours. Give me more determination to study your word so that I may know you better. Increase my faith so that I may walk in your way. Give me wisdom to be more like you as I go about the normal affairs of my life today. In the name of Jesus I pray.

May God bless each of us as we live for him today.