21 Days of Prayer
Key Verse:
“Hear my voice when I call, Lord;
be merciful to me and answer me.” Psalm 27:7
Prompt:
This week’s focus: Pray First
What’s your first response when you face challenges or difficulties or even celebrations? Maybe you isolate? Or seek an outlet for your pain? Is it calling out to the Lord? It’s such a comfort to know that no matter our circumstances, God hears our prayers and cares for us. Ask God to help you PRAY FIRST no matter what you encounter this week, knowing that He is a faithful and merciful God who will answer as He sees fit for His plans and purposes.
More:
Begin with two minutes of silence and stillness before God.
As we spend time today in Psalms, I'd like you to try to begin with the vision of David, a young boy, the youngest of his brothers, likely in his twenties. As a child, he was prophesied to become king, a concept he couldn’t even comprehend at the time. Then, he was appointed as King Saul’s right-hand man. However, Saul’s jealousy and fear of losing his kingship led him to devise a plan to eliminate David at any cost.
Saul hired thousands of soldiers with the sole purpose of finding and killing David. So, David ran; he ran and hid throughout the dark wilderness and prayed. We get to read his prayers and songs in Psalms, and today we’re reading Psalm 27. David may have been surrounded by darkness, but he begins this song, “The LORD is my light...” I couldn’t even make it further than the opening line without having to pause and reflect on that. There wasn’t a flashlight on his iPhone 15 to illuminate the dark, yet he didn’t open with a complaint or a plea for light. In fact, he began by calling on his light and his salvation- the LORD. In John 8:12, Jesus tells us, “...I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” Sometimes, it can feel like we’re surrounded by darkness, too - but, oh, to be like David and train our hearts and minds to immediately go to the Light that is our Lord, to remember Him and call on Him first. David goes on to say, “Whom shall I fear?” So, before we even make it to the second verse, David reminds us light illuminates the darkness, Jesus is light, and fears are dissolved in the light.
Verses 4 and 5 say, “One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple. For in the day of trouble, he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock.” David wasn’t begging for his life to be spared, or to be given his rightful seat on the throne; no, he was just confidently asking to be in the presence of the LORD. He only wanted his nearness. The confidence David had in this verse is the same confidence we can have in the Lord’s protection, safety, and nearness over our lives. He says it three different times in one verse! We will be safe in His dwelling, He will hide us in His sacred tent (another way in scripture of referring to the Temple, God’s special dwelling place), and He set us high upon a rock (another word in scripture we see used to define places of safety and where miracles take place). It’s like David really wanted himself - and us - to remember this!
I love how David ends in verses 13 and 14, “I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.” Hold on to that truth today. Remember times when Jesus has been the Light in your darkness or someone you know. Thank God for those today. End your day today, end your prayer every day like David by preaching this truth to yourself again.
Take two minutes to reflect in silence.
Reflection:
- Use the S.O.A.P. Method to study God’s Word.
- SCRIPTURE: What stands out to you in today’s passage?
- OBSERVATION: What is this text saying? What is the context? How does it fit with the verses before and after it? Are there any commands, instructions, or promises?
- APPLICATION: How can you apply this verse to your life? What does this mean today? What is God saying to you?
- PRAYER: Dear Heavenly Father, help us to be strong and take heart and wait for You. We long to be near You, God. Please give us patience and show us the path You have planned for us; and help us never forget that with You, in Your dwelling, on Your rock, we are safe. I love You, Jesus. In Your name, we pray, amen.