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The How and Why of Prayer- Psalm 20

The How and Why of Prayer- Psalm 20

“To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble! May the name of the God of Jacob protect you! May he send you help from the sanctuary and give you support from Zion! May he remember all your offerings and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices! Selah May he grant you your heart's desire and fulfill all your plans! May we shout for joy over your salvation, and in the name of our God set up our banners! May the LORD fulfill all your petitions! Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with the saving might of his right hand. Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright. O LORD, save the king! May he answer us when we call.”


This psalm is unique in that it seems to be filled with benedictions about the Lord answering prayer. If you are ever praying intensely about a certain issue, this is the perfect psalm to turn to, because it lifts our hearts up to see that God is listening and to know that he cares. Have you ever prayed and felt like the heavens were brass and you were only talking to the ceiling? In psalm 20, David reminds us that God is there. Eight times in this psalm David seems to show his desire for the Lord to answer his servant’s prayers with the statement, “May the Lord/ May he…” Here is what David wants God to do with our prayer: 1. answer you in the day of trouble, 2. his name protect you, 3. send you help from the sanctuary, 4. give you support from Zion, 5. remember all your offerings, 6. regard with favor your burnt sacrifices, 7. grant you your heart’s desire, 8. fulfill all your plans, 9. fulfill all your petitions, 10. answer us when we call. Before going any further I think it’s important to ask the question of what prayers will God answer and what prayers won’t he answer. 1 Peter 3:7 says, “Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.” (Italics mine). This verse makes it plain that a husband’s prayer from believers can be hindered if loving servant leadership is not displayed in the home. Proverbs 28:9 says, “If one turns his ear away from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination”. This psalm declares that unbelievers ought not to pray because prayer ought to be done when one is living in fellowship with God and obedience to him. God even declares that for a nonbeliever to pray, it is only compounding their rebellion because they ought not even seek God’s help if they have hearts with sinful desires. James 4:3 says, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” This verse declares that God will never give to someone who prays for something outside of his will without honoring him in the praying of it. James 1:6-7 also says, “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;” This verse reminds us that prayer without faith is like trying to fly without wings. God will only answer a prayer that acknowledges his power and ability to answer it. So now we know what the parameters are for prayer. The good news is that: If you are a believer who holds no un-confessed sins and you pray with God’s glory as your desire fully believing that God is there and is capable of solving your dilemma, you can be confident he hears and will answer you according to his will. Even with everything lined up God may have other plans for his glory to be revealed. Consider the disciples when they heard Jesus say he would go to the cross and die. Do you think any of them could have prayed that God not crucify the Christ? Imagine their prayer…”Oh Father in Heaven, we know that Jesus is to be king on the earth and that this horrible death he speaks of is not your will. Please save Jesus from going to the cross so he can be the king we all know he is supposed to be. Amen” The death of Jesus was the most despicable act of sin in human history and yet God ordained that it be so that he could save sinners, so our prayers may not always be exactly God’s plan. God may have a plan that involves our persecution and death for the spread of his glory in your joy despite such persecutions but we would never know it. I am not saying we should not pray certain things for our prayers would all sound the same if not. Every prayer would then be, “God, let your will be done.” We should pray certain things with the understanding that God may have another means of getting glory. David knows the deep yearnings of the human heart in need of God’s grace, so he pours out benediction after benediction to encourage believers in their prayers. David then begins to build up our faith by declaring facts we can rest assured in: namely, that God hears our prayers and saves us according to his will and that faith in him alone is necessary. Unbelievers have no need to pray for the things they find their confidence in are not God, but they do not realize that these things cannot solve all their problems. When our economy begins to crumble, you hear in people’s voices an idolatry for money not unlike the idolaters in David’s day. All the hopes and dreams of unbelievers can only give them security to an extent in this life, but when the cold dew of death lies on their brow they will find themselves naked and accountable before a holy God. David ends this psalm by being a fellow prayer warrior with us and praying for God to answer his prayers and ours.

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