Devotion Corner

Psalm 17:1 Hear the right, O LORD, attend unto my cry, give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips.

Sometimes, people walk away from any belief in God because they ‘prayed’ but no answer was forthcoming from God. They cried out to God but did so with insincere lips and a pretending heart. Their pleas were driven from selfish want, looking to use God as some sort of ‘cosmic vending machine’, as one preacher put it. They have no desire to submit to God’s will and authority; but they want access to His power and blessings.

The believer in Christ, however, can pray in hopeful expectation that God will hear their prayers. They can do so because they approach the Lord not in selfishness and pretence, but in simple, humble trust, like that a child towards their loving father. Such an approach shows the existence of a true relationship, one between a doting father and a trusting child. The fruits of. This heavenly bond moves the believer in Christ, to speak with sincere lips and a submissive heart, not with feigned lips and a defiant heart.

So, it is by the wondrous grace of God, that He has humbled our hearts so that we can make our prayers to Him, with full, sincere petitions moved by a trusting heart of faith. These prayers we trust He will bend His merciful ear to receive. We can rest trusting that He will come to us in our time of need, like a loving father does to their troubled child. We can live in hopeful expectation that He will not turn us away when we seek Him, as we have experienced His goodness many times before. Praise the Lord, that He is unchanging in His ways; and so, He will continue to hear the cries of the contrite heart.