“I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Your doings; I muse on the work of Your hands.  I stretch out my hands to You; My soul longs for you, as a parched land.  Answer me quickly, O Lord, my spirit fails; Do not hide Your face from me, Or I will become like those who go down to the pit.  Let me hear Your loving kindness in the morning; For I trust in You; Teach me the way in which I should walk; For to You I lift up my soul.  Deliver me, O Lord, from my enemies; I take refuge in You.”  Psalm 143:5-9

We live in a time when it seems that evil is winning the day.  David, the psalmist, experienced such times, yet he was inspired to pray until he prevailed.  Hopefully this passage will be an encouragement to every Christ-follower to pray for victory with a renewed confidence.

David was inspired to prevail in prayer as he remembered the Lord’s past works (vv 5-6).  We can learn from that!  There is spiritual strength in recalling the Lord’s past mighty works in behalf of His people in Bible times, in the history of the Church, in our personal life and in contemporary events.  We have a tremendous advantage over the old testament saints.  We have the record of the mighty acts of God in the Scriptures.  It is spiritually therapeutic to read, re-read and meditate on all these works of His hands.  It is also inspirational to read, re-read and meditate on the awesome works of God in the history of the Church.  Finally, it would benefit greatly every true follower of Christ to sit down periodically and make list of all the things the Lord has done to provide for and protect his or her life, as well as those of family and friends.

David found additional inspiration to prevail in prayer as he learned to recognize the Lord’s present ways (vv 7-9).  We can be reminded, as was David, that he was dependent on the Lord twenty four hours a day, every day of his life.  But we are not to stop there, but remind ourselves that we can always trust in the Lord’s faithfulness.  Regardless of the time, or situation, it is tremendously comforting and inspiring to be reminded that, “Faithful is He Who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.”  1st Thessalonians 5:24  David said, “I trust in You!” (v 8), and “I take refuge in You!” (v 9), and we can say the same thing!

The ancient Chinese used to foster hope in their theatre by using a two-level stage.  The main play was on a lower stage while the final act was on a stage above.  As the people watched the actors on the main stage going through adversity and trials, they could see how things worked out on the upper stage.  Armed with this information about how things would work out, the people in the audience would shout encouragement to the actors on the main stage to keep going in spite of their trials, and how things appeared for the moment.  The people of God have the final act clearly set forth in the Bible.  Even though we are beset by what seem like overwhelming problems, that which is revealed about the Lord’s character and being in Scripture, and our ultimate victory with Him should be more than ample to inspire us to continue to prevail in prayer!

Jon Moore