The Everyday Prayer

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 62:1-12 (day four)

Trust in Him at all times, O people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. Selah.

How often do you pour out your heart before God? Do you tend to maintain a sense of formality and “politeness” in your prayers? While God is holy and we should pray knowing we speak to a holy God, the Psalms teach us that emotion is still welcome in his holy presence. We can trust him at all times, knowing that he is the only one who knows the depths of our hearts and is the only one who can handle the things we try to carry. We can pour out our heart before him – even the ugly things we’re ashamed of, even our doubts. When we get those things in the light, they lose their ability to fester within us. When we pour out our heart before him, we’re reminded that God is truly our only refuge, and the best one we could ask for. He’s a refuge even from the war in our own mind.

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 62:1-12 (day three)

¹ I am at rest in God alone; my salvation comes from Him.

What do you do when trouble comes your way?

What defines trouble for you? Is it big things that shake your spirit such as a cancer diagnosis or an international crisis? Is trouble for you small things like being overly critical of something or someone because you didn’t get enough sleep, or a disappointment in your day? No matter how we define trouble, trouble will come. The temptation to react and handle things on our own will be there constantly and consistently throughout each day. There is always an urge to handle troubles on our own, rather than letting God handle them.

Often, it is easier to go to God with our bigger troubles and let Him take care of those. But that is not how God wants us to operate. The Bible is full of examples and exhortations to let God have all our cares, worries, and troubles. But we struggle with this. We struggle with letting Him have control over the big and the small troubles. Here in Psalm 62, the Psalmist reminds us to find rest in the Lord. If God is strong enough and big enough to handle our biggest troubles, isn’t He more than strong enough and big enough to handle our small troubles, also?

So, when trouble comes your way today, what will you do? Will you trust God and give it to Him, or will you try to handle (name your small or big trouble here) when it arises? I pray you find rest in Him today with the big and the small things.

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 62:1-12 (day two)

 He only is my rock and my salvation, My stronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken. V. 2

This psalm is filled with images of God as a strong fortress and tower. If we put our faith and trust in the Lord, we can rest securely in the knowledge that we are under his care and protection. These pictures are a great comfort and remind us of that which is immovable. There is a distinct contrast given at the end of verse three. When our trust and faith is established in anything other than the Lord, it is…

Like a leaning wall, like a tottering fence? V. 3b

People will try to convince you that people, institutions, ideologies are solid and trustworthy; but in the end they will result in an unstable grasp of reality. God alone provides the stability and strength that we need. May this be a reminder to all of us that no matter how shiny and new a way of thinking may be, if it is not rooted in God, it is a tottering fence.

 

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 37:1-40 (day six)

Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing. vs 8b

Three times in the first eight verses we see the psalmist uses the phrase, “Do not fret.” Anytime repetition is found in scripture, it is an indicator of importance, so what was David trying to highlight? We often attribute fretting to anxiety and worry. However, the word used here for fret is more often translated as anger or burning (Strong’s H2734).

David is telling us not to become angry by the success of evildoers. It is frustrating when it appears like God allows immoral people to avoid punishment. It is frustrating when it seems like bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people. It is frustrating when we do everything right, but others who don’t live for God get the reward. This is the feeling David is trying to invoke. Have you felt this before? If we are honest, we all have, and maybe even pretty recently.

David encourages us not to fret or get worked up by this because God is in control. When we take matters into our own hands, it leads to us becoming the evil we are trying to expose. We cause more harm than good when we get flustered by other’s success. Trust God’s plan and God’s timing. It will be better than anything this world can offer!

Bonus thought: Why does God allow the wicked to prosper? I would say he doesn’t. I’d argue the success of the wicked keeps them in a place where they believe they don’t need God. That’s what the enemy wants. Victory in Jesus is better than any victory the world can offer.

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 37:1-40 (day six)

“Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act.” Psalm 37:7

Stillness is not inactivity. Waiting is not absence.

Psalm 37 calls us to a kind of life that resists anxiety and anger (vv. 7–8), but it does not invite us into passivity. To be still before God is to locate yourself, intentionally, in His presence. It is to quiet the restless impulse to control outcomes and instead trust the One who sees the end from the beginning.

I find this especially relevant, in this very moment, in a season of writing for the completion of my Doctor of Ministry. Waiting for clarity, completion, or a breakthrough is rarely ideal. It feels slow, uncertain, even frustrating. But it can be deeply intentional. Waiting becomes a space where I write, trust, hope, and anticipate—before God.

We must be careful not to spiritualize waiting into something abstract or detached from real life. Biblical waiting is embodied. It shows up in disciplined faithfulness, in resisting worry, in refusing anger, in continuing the work set before us.

To wait for the Lord is not to do nothing.

It is to live, act, and endure, anchored in His presence—until He moves.

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 37:1-40 (day five)

It may be one of the most incredible promises in the Bible- God will give you the desires of your heart. No denying it is in the scriptures. How can this be true?  What is God really promising?

I think we need to ask another question or two in order to answer these questions. How do you see God? Or in other words, What is your view of God?  Is God a genie in heaven granting you wishes?  Whatever we want, he gives and does?  Is God a cosmic grandfather who is easily persuaded or caves into all our requests- wants us to be happy and is able and willing to spoil us above and beyond anything else. These may seem silly or extreme, but I have visited with lots of people (some who claim to be believers) who have this view and mindset.

The key to understanding the promise, is to consider its context. Two words are key. Delight and Heart. While affection is certainly a part of delight, the scriptures indicate that determination and discipline are also facets of delighting in the Lord. Determination and discipline to Learn about Him, Love Him, Know Him deeper. The scriptures also describe the heart as the place where priorities, values, decisions, desires, affections, and convictions are formed and ultimately shape and influence our thinking, feeling, and character (to name a few). So yes, when we delight in God and our hearts are renewed and reshaped by the Spirit- our desires become His desires. We see Him as a gracious, loving, sovereign God whose values and priorities become ours. And what we then begin to desire and ask for (shifts and transforms), becoming what He wants and desires for us. And God is promising to give us those things.

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 37:1-40 (day four)

The Bible has a miraculous way of giving wisdom for our current, earthly life, in the same breath as it gives insight to our eternal life to come. David encourages the believer that the Lord is a sure place to put our hope, both now and forever. He calls us to a particular kind of hope, though – a patient hope.

He encourages the believer that though they suffer in a temporary sense, a day is coming when their suffering will end, and they will dwell with the Lord forever. The unrighteous settle for cheap joy in the moment, but David calls us to wait patiently for the joy that will last forever. The Lord also offers us hope for our current lives. When we trust in the Lord and walk in faithfulness, he gives us the desires of our heart, which look increasingly like the desires of His heart. If we are willing to wait patiently on the Lord’s timing and sanctifying work, we will find over and over again that there is hope both for tomorrow and for eternity.

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 37:1-40 (day three)

³⁴ Wait for the Lord and keep His way, And He will exalt you to inherit the land; When the wicked are cut off, you will see it.

I love baseball. I love everything about it: The smells of grass and dirt, the sounds of a ball hitting a bat or mitt, the minutiae of stats, the stratagem of plays. I could go on and on and bore you with the history and stats that I know by heart. I also know that the game of baseball has a lot of waiting. I often hear that baseball is a boring sport, and I understand these feelings. But over my many years of playing and coaching, I have learned how to navigate the “waiting” during a baseball game. As a player, I learned to fill my time waiting by quizzing myself on what I would do if the ball came my way. I learned to watch the other players to see what they did well that I could learn from. As a coach, I have learned to engage with the kids to help them engage in the game. All this is to say that in the game of baseball, there is a lot of waiting. But there is much to do while you wait for your next opportunity. I often tell the kids I coach, that baseball is only boring if we don’t know what to do while we wait. Then, I try to coach them on what to do while they wait.

Waiting for God can feel like that sometimes. It can be hard to wait for His timing and to wait for what He has in store for us. Our timing is not His. In Psalm 37, David reminds us that there is much to do while we wait for the Lord’s timing. We are to keep God’s way. We are to follow Him and to stay steady on His path. We are to adhere to Him and His Word in all that we do.

If you find yourself having trouble waiting on the Lord today, ask Him to teach you to wait well. I know that He will.

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 37:1-40 (day two)

Do not fret because of evildoers,
Be not envious toward wrongdoers.
² For they will wither quickly like the grass
And fade like the green herb. V. 1-2

The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever. Isaiah 40:8

…while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18

There is a reality to living in a fallen world that sees others seemingly succeed at the cost of what is good, true, and beautiful. We see unscrupulous people win, get ahead, and live happy lives. This can be discouraging. That this can happen is a reality. We see it in almost every facet of life, even churches. It does reveal something about the believer as well. Where is your focus. I am less likely to be distracted by what other people get, do, or win if I’m not focused on them. The world is not the source of fulfillment or true happiness, and those who put their trust in those things will ultimately receive what they provide. Emptiness. If you find yourself in a state of mind that is discouraged by the world, take a breath and lift your eyes to the only one who can give you life.