Most of the psalms are prayers. People usually think of prayer as asking God for things, that is, as supplication. But prayer is much broader than this. Prayer is simply conversing with God. God does, however, want us to ask him for things and supplication is indeed an important part of prayer. Moreover, God promises us that when we seek him, he will answer us. However, it is important for us to know that he doesn’t want to be our ‘genie in the bottle’ that we bring out whenever we need something. God wants our supplication to be an expression of our relationship of faith with him. God’s promise to answer our prayers has a context in which God is God and we are his children. It is a context in which we are following Jesus rather than asking Jesus to follow us. Psalm 91:15 says, “He will call upon me, and I will answer him”. But who does this refer to? It refers to “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High”. In John 15:7 Jesus says, “Ask whatever you wish and it will be given to you”. But the verse begins with the words: “If you remain in me and my words remain in you…” And then the next verse clarifies why God wants to answer our prayers: “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit.” In other words, the promises of God apply for the purpose of God. We can walk in God’s purpose if we want to because God is committed to helping us do this.
Ask God to help you walk in his ways.
Read Psalm 143 and John 15:1-8
