Bold Requests
It may seem weird to you, but we have more freedom and total transparency of our feelings and our needs with God than we do with our parents.
When reading through scripture, and especially in the Psalms, we frequently see a boldness in telling God exactly what is needed. As a teenager I would have feared for my wellbeing if I demanded anything from my parents. But the psalmist’s model for us is that we can in fact speak directly to God about our needs. And do it with boldness!
Psalm 4 opens: “Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!” David doesn’t warm God up before telling him what he needs. No flowery opening to his prayer. David gets right to the point and lets God know that his need is urgent.
If you grew up in a church where someone prayed with fancy words and King James English, you might have the idea that prayer must be polite, use the best grammar, and requests must be carefully positioned, or God will not respond. But as you read the psalms and other prayers in scripture, you will find that prayer is best when honest and direct.
If you are not convinced, consider these lines from David’s prayer:
“Answer me when I call…”
“Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!”
“Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!”
David was feeling distress and presented his prayer to God with great urgency. And the truth is that you and I have that same freedom. Once David got all of his emotions and needs out to God, he discovered that he was able to sleep better.
“In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.”
Over the years I have found that when I wake up in the night with my mind pondering all the challenges I may be facing that I am able to go back to sleep when I simply hand all of my struggles back to God. And in the middle of the night, I never worry about my grammar or politeness. I simply tell God everything. You can do the same.
God wants us to come to him with our worries, our challenges, our fatigue, and our temptations. He will never turn his ears away from us. So today, be bold in your requests. You might just sleep better tonight when you release it all to the God who loves you more than you can possibly imagine.
Father, thank you for scriptures that help us understand how to pray with openness. Today we trust you to be with us in every situation we face. Thank you for the peace that is ours because you have us and our problems in your hands. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Your Time with God’s Word
Psalm 4:1-8 ESV
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