Prayer of Guidance

To be completely honest, it’s been a while since I’ve really been in God’s Word. I mean, delved in and not just reading a few verses real quick before I go to sleep. You know that feeling when you haven’t been eating healthy? Maybe you stocked up on snacks for the theatre or had too many sweets at the birthday party (obviously I’ve never done this). This is how I feel in a spiritual sense when I am not feeding myself with wisdom and instruction from God’s word. I notice a difference and something missing.

I love how God always knows exactly what we need! I have been going through this incredible devotional book called Sing a New Song by Lydia Brownback (thanks to the awesome Jocelyn Allen for getting me this book), and it has been such an encouragement. Today was on Psalm 5 which is a prayer of guidance by David.

Firstly, I would encourage you to stop what you’re doing and read this Psalm — it will only take a couple of minutes. A couple of points that the author brings out of the text are:

Spending time with God helped David:

1. Shape his thoughts and prepare for the day

2. Freshly sensitize him to the evil of sin

3. Remind him that God’s righteousness will prevail in the long run

“David had a nation to run, yet his morning routine included the Lord.” Ouch. I feel as if that was a not so discreet hint from the Lord! Of course life gets incredibly busy (those with kids are probably thinking “you have no idea!”), but David was literally king of a nation and I’m sure had quite a few things on his plate. It is convicting and encouraging that he, a king, prioritized the Lord so he could run the country in a godly way. 

“The majority of our waking hours are spent out in the world, not in a quiet room with an open Bible, which is another reason why morning time with the Lord is a precious gift, not a burdensome obligation.”