Praying Through the Battle Within
I have a theory that we more quickly pray with urgency when we feel physical danger for ourselves or our loved ones and with less urgency when we are in the middle of a spiritual attack. If someone were confronting you or a loved one with the intent to cause harm, our prayer might be short and desperate: “Lord, help me.” When facing a life-threatening illness or accident, we quickly pray for God’s intervention and rescue. But what about when anger is stirring within us and we want to lash out at someone?
Reading Psalms 140 and 141 back to back, it appears that in the first situation, David is being pursued by evil men seeking to harm him. He prays that God will deliver him from the evil that is in their hearts and being played out in real time. But in Psalm 141, David’s urgency has to do with his own heart. His temptation is with the words he wants to use against his enemies, knowing that his words could lead to evil actions.
We sometimes act as if our words are in a separate category from our actions. But in this passage, David’s urgent prayer is that God would shut his mouth and keep his lips from speaking evil. He recognizes the temptation to strike back at his enemies verbally and possibly even physically, or to become involved in their evil. So he prays for God’s protection and even asks for the kindness of a righteous person to correct him and prevent him from lashing out or falling into participation with those who practice evil.
This kind of self-awareness does not come quickly or easily. To know oneself this well can only come from the kind of intimacy David had with his Creator. Remember the psalmist’s prayer back in Psalm 139? He prayed that God would search him and reveal whether his heart was out of line with the heart of God. Specifically, he prayed that God would reveal any grievous way within him and, if there was one, lead him in the righteous path.
I suspect that we all would do well to develop this kind of spiritual self-awareness, which is learned through communion with God and transparency with godly brothers and sisters.
Father, today we are aware of our hesitation and, at times, our refusal to seek your intervention when we feel tempted to act with evil intent through our words or deeds. Thank you for the promise Paul reminded us of: that no temptation is so unique that you cannot and will not provide a way of escape. Today, we confess our need to spend time with you often so that we might develop the spiritual self-awareness to turn to you in moments of temptation.
In Jesus’ name, amen.
Your Time with God’s Word
Psalm 139:23-24, 140:4–5, 141:3-5, 1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV
Photo by Pexels
To receive daily posts delivered directly to your inbox, complete the form at the bottom of our home page.
