King David is famous for writing down his prayers. If he didn’t, we would not know how to pray. But did you know that fifty-six other authors wrote their own personal prayers which ended up in the Bible? Just as each psalm is different, each author provides a different slant to how they see and experience the work of God in their lives.
The following prayer is how I saw God work in my life this past week. And I learned again that writing down my prayers rather than just saying and then forgetting them is a practice well worth repeating.
Just as the psalms show us a plethora of emotions, none of our feelings make us unfit to approach God. Like keeping a diary, writing down your prayers is an act I encourage heartily. But if you can’t do that yet, start by reading Psalms and let them be your prayer. That’s what they are there for!
God, why is it that You raise my hopes,
Only to dash them against the rocks?
Why is it that You get me excited about life,
And then it slips through my fingers?
You made me this way.
You knew exactly what You were doing.
But like a child with a dog, You play ‘keep away’
You are playing this game with my heart,
with the things I desire most.
You say, “Here is your opportunity!”
only to change Your mind a millisecond later!
God, You are the reason why I live.
You were healing me before and after I left my mother’s womb
And I will never stop praising You because my gratitude to You is immense!
But why are You making things so hard?
You say “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle
Than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
But is it also easier for a camel to take this same passage
Than for a man who tries to do right to be satisfied?
I am making mistakes left, right and centre
and You do not notice.
If You do, You sit in Heaven and laugh.
You say, ”Oh, he fell. He messed up!”
Why is it that You do this?
God, I don’t know what to do!
I don’t know how to live!
Teach me how!
Lord Jesus, be magnified in the opportunities I miss.
May Your power be magnified in the balls I drop.
They are not mistakes I make
more than they are mistakes You make.
You created me and knew exactly what You were doing.
And You were pleased.
The mistakes I make, are You pleased with them?
Do You want me to continue in my fumbling ways?
They drive me nuts, but if they praise You than by all means!
I desire to praise You because that is true life.
You have made my hands frail
so that what I drop, You can catch.
Catch me! Catch the ones I care about!
And may You be honoured by my fumbling ways.