OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL - SATURDAY - 29/03/2014 - PRAYER: IN WHAT DIRECTION? BY PASTOR E.A. ADEBOYE

PRAYER: IN WHAT DIRECTION?

MEMORISE

Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray.

Psalm 5:2

READ

Psalm 5:1-3

1 To the chief Musician upon Nehiloth, A Psalm of David. Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my meditation.

2 Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray.

3 My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.

MESSAGE

The Holy Spirit inspired men to write accounts of some of their experiences and of events that occurred in time past for a reason. The reason He did this is stated in 1 Corinthians 10:11:

“Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.”

It is however unfortunate that those things written as examples to make us wiser are often not adhered to. The Psalmist discovered something fundamental to being victorious in life which is the power of prayer. Not only the power of prayer but also the right direction we should channel our prayers to. In 2 Kings 6:26-27, we read about a woman who misdirected her prayer to the king of Israel when she was in distress:

“And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help, my lord, O king. And he said, If the LORD do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? out of the barnfloor, or out of the winepress?”

The Psalmist got it right when he said: “unto thee will I pray”. In Luke 18:1-8, we see a clear picture of why we should direct our prayers to God. It took the judge an unknown number of days, months or even years, to heed the request of this helpless widow. He decided to help the woman only because she did not relent. Jesus Christ said:

“Hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?”

An often overlooked truth in this parable is that, if this woman had directed her prayers to God, she would not have gone through the pain of insensitivity she suffered.

Beloved of the Lord, to whom are you directing your prayers? When you discuss your problems with people as though they have the solution, you are making a god out of them. This is why you meet with disappointment more often than not. The Bible placed a curse on people who put their trust in men and whose hearts have strayed from God in Jeremiah 17:5:

“Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.”

Let us put our trust in the Almighty God who gives liberally without upbraiding (James 1:5).

ACTION POINT

From now on, redirect your prayers from men to God. You will not be disappointed.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR

Ezekiel 28:1-30:19; 

Psalm 72