“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.” – Psalm 23:6
“For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” – Psalm 84:11
“If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” – Matthew 7:11
I’m learning a lot from my 5-year old son. If you know my Joey, you know that he’s a character. He wants to do everything his 18-year old brother does – from skateboarding to riding a dirt bike to driving a tractor. And he is absolutely convinced that he can do those things. In his mind, he knows exactly what he wants, he needs exactly what he wants, and nothing that he wants could ever hurt him.
Though he drives me crazy sometimes, Joey also makes me think. How different am I? While I have absolutely no desire to ever ride a dirt bike, I often go to God knowing exactly what I want from Him, believing that I need exactly what I want, and also believing that the things I want could never hurt me. My requests couldn’t possibly be a bad idea, could they?
You probably already see where I’m going with this. In Psalm 73, the writer is feeling sorry for himself. In Verse 3, he confesses that he is “envious” of the wicked. He wants what they have – their success, their riches, and their seeming ability to avoid any sort of trouble in life (Verses 5,7,12).
By Verses 13-14, the psalmist is even questioning whether obedience to the Lord is worth it. After all, if people who could care less about God seem to prosper (Verse 11), what is the point of being faithful to Him? Sadly, I’ve heard many Christians ask similar questions, and on more than one occasion, I’ve seen someone act out those questions with tragic consequences.
But the turning point comes in Verse 17 – “Until I went into the sanctuary of God, then I understood their end.” By Verses 23-24, the writer has recognized the constant hand of God in his life, as he sees the wicked perish in their own pursuits, and by the end of the Psalm, he places his trust fully in our good, good God once again.
For the psalmist, the clarity came in the presence of God – in His sanctuary, in prayer, in His Word – and so it is for you and me. Outside of the presence of God, the world seems worth wanting, and our deluded wishes seem well worth having. In fact, our plans seem perfect, and we can’t understand why God isn’t immediately on board with them. We actually become suspicious that He might not really know or care what we need, and waiting for God’s goodness in God’s timing becomes nearly unthinkable. Don’t let it come to that.
My advice to you – get back to the sanctuary and the sanity of His presence immediately. If you will linger in His presence, rather than just dropping off your prayer requests like a takeout order, our gracious God will give you a sense of His hand in your life, a glimpse of His plan (even if you don’t get all the details), and an assurance that you will have what you need when you need it (Psalm 37:4, Proverbs 3:5-6, Isaiah 55:9, Jeremiah 17:7-8, 29:11, Matthew 6:10, 31-33).
Too often, we don’t go to God with questions; we go to Him with answers – precise prescriptions for what He should do, what He should provide, and how, when, and where He should work in our lives. But you must ask yourself the questions that the psalmist answered. Do you trust Him enough to leave everything to Him? Can you keep trusting when nothing seems to be going according to your plan? Can you wait on Him – even when waiting seems to mean missing out on something you want?
The next time you go to prayer, stay a while. Stay in the sanctuary until you come to your senses. Linger in His presence, listen for His voice, and let His perspective change yours. Just once, ask Him what you need, instead of telling Him (Romans 8:26, Philippians 4:19, Hebrews 11:6, 13:6, James 1:7). Stop worrying about what you want. Pray for God’s will to be done, and trust that it will be.
YOUR PRESCRIPTION
Go to God with no agenda. Do not ask Him to change anything but you. Do not ask Him to give you anything but His will. Tell Him you trust Him, and pray like you mean it.
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