Psalm 86:5-7, A God Centered Prayer

Our Fighter Verses for the week:

Psalm 86:5–7

5 For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in lovingkindness to all who call upon You.

6 Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; And give heed to the voice of my supplications!

7 In the day of my trouble I shall call upon You, For You will answer me.

These three verses, as is the entire Psalm, are a prayer to the Lord from one who is in troubled times. Notice the orientation of the prayer. It is toward God, about God and the primary theme is to extoll His virtues, not lament the circumstances. There is only one line in the whole Psalm that even comes close to describing the situation, David, our pray-er finds himself in.  Instead, he spends time humbling himself before the Lord (Ps 86:1-7), praising Him (Ps 86: 8-10), describing the situation (Ps 86:14), Praising Him again (Ps 86:15) and asking for strength and grace (Ps 86:16-17).

How many times do we find ourselves praying prayers that are far more about us than God? How many times do we find ourselves praying to make sure God has enough of the details to decide in our favor? It would be a good exercise to examine our prayers for content and see how much is about us…and how much is about God, His faithfulness and His goodness. Psalm 86 is a model for our personal prayers in times of trouble.