Consider this: “The surviving remnant . . . shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward. . . .The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this (Isaiah 37:31-32).“
When you pray for your church, appeal to God’s zeal. He can make your church take root and bear fruit.
Here’s what they did: O Lord, in distress they sought you, they poured out a whispered prayer (Isaiah 26:16).
Here’s what they knew: O Lord, you will ordain peace for us, for you have indeed done all our works (Isaiah 26:12).
They fell on their faces and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh (Numbers 16:22).
Do you ever fall on your face when you pray? Do you address God as the Sovereign Lord?
In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me (Psalm 120:1).
David “appealed to him who has all men’s hearts in his hand . . . He obtained a gracious answer to this prayer.”*
*Matthew Henry, The Matthew Henry Commentary, p. 715.
“Sometimes the doctor calls with the awful news, your car breaks down on the side of the road for the fifth time in a month, or life just doesn’t go as planned. When that happens, gratitude is never your (my) first response.
There’s no formula for expressing gratitude when you’re too numb to respond, so I don’t have an answer here. The best idea I can give: tell your unedited feelings to the One who sees—and years down the road, if time has healed enough to show you any positive outcome from the situation, say thank you then.”* (bold mine)
*http://www.annelieserider.com/blog/2018/11/24/late-thank-youspt-4
The Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his (Psalm 100:3).
We pray with gratitude to our Sovereign Lord who calls us his very own.
Psalm 100 is a Psalm for giving thanks.
It says: Make a joyful noise to the Lord. Serve him with gladness. Come into his presence with singing (from Psalm 100:1-2 bold mine).
Thankful prayers are joyful.
