The Delight of Your Heart, Prayer

Prayer is our life line to God.

Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. Daniel 9:3

Daniel knew this and so did the other writers of Scripture. Communion with our Lord should delight our hearts and souls. It should cause us to rejoice that we have access to the Father because of His Son. 

Prayer is an act of humility and dependence on the one true God. We can talk to people but there is no one else that can direct our hearts and bend our stubborn wills. There is no one else that knows the depths of our hearts and still shows us grace and mercy each day. There is no one else that see the sins we hide but God sees right through it. There is no one else who hears the secret prayers we whisper only to the Father.

Prayer is our life source.

We see this in Daniel’s prayer.

I prayed to the LORD my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. Daniel 9:4-5

At times we can go directly to our requests, needs, wants, and desires, instead of praising God for who He is and what He has done. There is nothing wrong with making requests.Daniel did this but his first response was to praise the Lord. 

He knows what we need before we even ask or before it even becomes a thought in our mind. He sees the tears of joy or sorrow that bleed into the pages of His word. He hears the joys and anguishes that come from His beloved children. 

The Lord wants us to come to Him. He wants us to depend on Him. He wants us to long for His word. He wants us to bow our hearts to His will.

Daniel says it so well in the last part of his prayer.

O my God, incline your heart and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city this is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name. Daniel 9:18-19

May our lips always praise our Lord, may we confess our sins to Him, may we let Him know of our faith in Him, may we tell Him of our need for Him, and may we humbly thank Him for everything He has done in our lives especially in saving our souls.

Let us go before the throne of grace one knee at a time, and praise our Father because prayer is our life line to Him.