21 Days of Prayer
Key Verse:
“You turned my wailing into dancing;
you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent.
Lord my God, I will praise you forever.” Psalm 30:11
Prompt:
This week’s focus: Pray First
We serve a God of transformation. He transforms our mourning to praising; our brokenness to healing; our shame to hope; our death to eternal life in Him. As you begin your day in prayer, think through the ways you’ve seen God move and work in your life, and praise Him specifically for His transforming power.
More:
Begin with two minutes of silence and stillness before God.
I lost my grandfather, my dad’s dad, long before I was born, but I have always heard the story of the tornado that snatched his truck up, tossing him around on his way to work one sad morning. Once I was old enough to understand what that meant, I had a pretty gnarly, maybe even irrational, fear of bad weather growing up - like they’d put me in the file room/vault when I was in school to keep me from hearing the thunder and winds whenever we had a tornado warning. I don’t know exactly when that fear began to fade, but once I had children, I know it was gone, and now there’s often solace - and good sleep - in the sights and sounds of a good storm. So, I love Psalm 29 and David’s imagery and descriptions of God’s storm rolling across the wilderness, touching everything in its path with His mighty presence and power. David’s attention to detail when describing God’s voice amid the storm was impressive to me, I had to stop myself from quoting every verse! But try to take a minute to read back through Psalm 29 and notice all the ways David described God’s voice as the storm. Just to name a few, His voice thunders, is powerful, majestic, and shakes the desert. Then, we come to the ending, and once again, David leaves us with a bang in verses 10 and 11. They say, “The LORD sits enthroned over the flood: the LORD is enthroned as King forever. The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace.” So, amid the lightning and thunder, David tells us that God is still in control and gives His people strength and peace. What a mighty and peaceful God we serve!
In Psalm 30, David is dedicating the Temple, the one he had planned to build but wouldn’t be able to see to completion. Instead, David would end up leaving it for his son, Solomon, to build with the materials and plans prepared for him. So, we see David praising and dedicating a Temple that hasn’t even begun to be built yet. And he is praising! I’d encourage you to read the passage again, maybe even twice, because David’s words here need no real explanation, and the joy and promises that come with knowing the LORD are evident in nearly every word. Verse 5 says, “For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping but stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.” I’m reminded of the Light again. David began our week speaking about the Light - go back and read day 1 if you haven’t had a chance to yet. And then again with a prayer I try to repeat regularly in verses 11 and 12, David ends chapter 30 by saying of the Lord, “You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent. LORD my God, I will praise you forever.” I pray today that if you’re reading this, you know your wailing is being turned into dancing, your sackcloth replaced with clothes of joy. And if you don’t know that joy yet, reach out to your House Church Pastor or someone on your campus’s team to help you take your next faith steps to find that joy. This week, try to memorize Psalm 30:10-11. Use this scripture while you find yourself in one of life’s storms.
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 God, we thank You for the storms and the comfort they can bring. For the storms that bring more fear than comfort; please be with us and let us feel Your presence and protection over us. Forgive us for failing to praise You in the storms and show us how to praise You as David did. We love You, Lord. Amen.