First Think, Then Pray

October 30, 2015

First Think, Then Pray

“Let your unfailing love surround us, LORD, for our hope is in you alone”

Psalm 33:22

Psalm 33 is a beautiful hymn of worship. Over and over the psalmist extols the virtues and power of God:

“For the word of the Lord holds true,

and we can trust everything he does.

He loves whatever is just and good;

the unfailing love of the Lord fills the earth.

The Lord merely spoke,

and the heavens were created.

He breathed the word,

and all the stars were born.”

Psalm 33:4-6

The psalmist also exposes the folly of those that rely on their own strength, their own wisdom. In a world governed by the notion of survival of the fittest, the Word of God is counter-cultural: “But the Lord watches over those who fear him, those who rely on his unfailing love” (v.18).

After I read this psalm, I wondered how the psalmist could have such confidence in God, while living in the reality of a very violent world of competing loyalties and cultures. Then I saw the source of his confidence: prayer. “Let your unfailing love surround us, Lord, for our hope is in you alone” (v.22). The psalmist is living out the theme of a little book on prayer I wrote a few years ago, “First Think, Then Pray.” The psalmist has taken the time to think, to ponder, to meditate on the character of God. Then he formulated a prayer that asked God to manifest His character in the life of the psalmist: “Let your unfailing love surround us, Lord, for our hope is in you alone” (Psalm 33:22).

The psalmist’s hymn praises God, who loves you so much He cannot take His eyes off of you: “The Lord looks down from heaven and sees the whole human race” (Psalm 33:13). This psalm is our invitation to never take our eyes or our mind off of God, because “the Lord watches over those who fear him, those who rely on his unfailing love” (Psalm 33:18).

Let us say with the psalmist, “We put our hope in the Lord. He is our help and our shield” (Psalm 33:20).

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.