Read the Book: October - DecemberSample

OUR PRAYER CLOSETS

The book of Psalms is often a place I go when I’m searching for verses like Psalm 46:10: “Be still, and know that I am God”—verses of praise and worship. However, if you study this book in the old testament, you learn that the psalms themselves range in mood from joyous celebration to solemn hymn and bitter protest. 

We see David, at a time when he was being persecuted by Saul, run to a cave to escape persecution and seek prayer. His cave was a perfect hiding closet for prayer. If David always prayed as he did in that cave, he may not have fallen into the sin that got him there in the first place. 

That’s so true of our own prayer lives, isn’t it? It’s not until we need something… and I mean, on our knees pleading with God, that we pray the way God desires us to. And I’m not only referring to the desperateness of David’s prayer—David first asked God to deal with his own sin and weakness before addressing the wicked men who fought against him. 

We often fail to ask God to search our own hearts for jealousy, greed, or anger before we ask God to fix someone else’s heart. What if our prayer closets became a place where we asked God to reveal in us the areas we can do better to become more like Him before we plead with Him to change someone else’s heart? How much better would we handle conflict or find joy in situations?

FAMILY CONNECTION: 

Find some funny tongue-twisters your family can try together. Our tongues have the ability to say funny things. We can also say things that show love and bring joy! Unfortunately, we can also say things that make people sad or angry. The writer of Psalm 141 asks God to keep a guard over our lips! We need to be sure that we are encouraging others with the things we say. What are some ways that you can encourage the people around you this week with the things you say?