Selected Psalms

The Practise of Passionate Prayer.

“Discovering the heart behind fervent prayer...” - Psalm 86

Introductory Thoughts:

·        I want to invite you this evening to open your Bibles with me to Psalm 86...

·        Every now and again in the evenings, we study a Psalm as we are going through the book of Revelation.

·        This evening we will spend some time looking at Psalm 86...

·        Now, being a church that consists of a bunch of sinners saved by grace and that are not yet perfect by a long shot, it by implication brings about that we are a church that is not perfect, by a long shot, and that there are certain areas where we need to grow in so as to become a healthier and even more Biblical church.

·        Two major areas that we desire to grow in and are therefore giving more attention and thought to how we can grow in these areas are: evangelism and prayer...

·        Hence the thrust with the evangelism videos; the soup kitchen that start up again and other intentional opportunities that we want to create for evangelism... street evangelism, tract distribution, the God of the City (GOTC) outreach and so forth...

·        That has also been the case with prayer and why we have been busy for some time now with the 10 minutes of prayer at 7:00; why we have started again with our prayer meetings at 17:00; and having a prayer night every now and again on a Sunday evening.

·        What we however need to understand and grasp is that we can arrange all of these “activities” and “opportunities” for evangelism and prayer, but ultimately what will make us grow as individuals and as a church in these areas, is when our hearts are where they are supposed to be...!

·        Very simply stated: It is when our hearts are focused on loving, serving, worshipping and enjoying Christ that we would want to spend more time in prayer and that we would want to spend more time in telling other people about Him...!

·        Now, in the providence of God, we come to Psalm 86 tonight, and this is a Psalm that will help us in at least one of these areas namely, in the area of prayer.

·        Psalm 86 is a “Prayer of David”, as the heading states, and it is a very earnest, passionate and fervent prayer that David prayed in a time when he was in great need of God...

·        We will then study this Psalm under the following heading:

The Practise of Passionate Prayer – Discovering the heart behind fervent prayer...

·        It is my hope and prayer that as we study this Psalm, that the LORD will grant us and work in us this heart for fervent and passionate prayer... I know I definitely need it and I hope that you will also long to have this kind of heart...

·        Lets then read Psalm 86...

·        In this Psalm, David is making reference to many other Old Testament passages as he prays. He is quoting from the Old Testament and even from some things he has previously written.

·        We can already learn two important things from this observation namely:

• Firstly, when you pray, pray God’s Word as much as possible... let God’s own Words inform and even form the content of your prayers... then you know you are praying according to His will and you are revealing your trust in God and what He has said... as you are “reminding” God of His words and promises, you are manifesting that you are doing so because you trust that God will do what He has said...

• Secondly, in our prayers, we don’t have to be original, striving to pray and say things in a way that they have never been said before... we should rather focus on being real with God as we are in a relationship with Him... in prayer, in passionate and fervent prayer, our focus is on God and in pouring out our hearts before Him because He is our God... He loves us and we love Him...!

Teaching Points:

·        From this Psalm we will then learn about six characteristics of a heart that is given to passionate and fervent prayer:

·        Allow me just a quick and important comment on the structure of this Psalm.

·        This Psalm has what we call a Chiastic Structure and in order to understand what we mean by that, think about a Hamburger that is symmetrical, namely think two buns, two pieces of cheese, two slices of tomato and then one thick and juicy patty in the middle...!

·        Verse 1 and 16-17 are our two buns... we will learn one characteristic from them...

·        Verse 2-7 and 14-15 are our two pieces of cheese... we will again learn one characteristic from them...

·        Verse 8-10 and 12-13 are our two pieces of tomato... again, we will learn one characteristic from them...

·        Verse 11 is our thick and juicy patty and we will learn three characteristics from this verse...

1. A needy heart... (v1, 16-17)

·        Passionate and fervent prayer starts with the realization that you need God...

·        It starts with realizing and understanding that you are poor and needy... that you are spiritually and morally bankrupt and that you have nothing to offer God, but rather that you are in need of and are dependent on His grace and strength and help and comfort...

·        A lack of prayer flows from a heart that is proud and self-sufficient... those who think that they’ve “got this”, they are the ones who are slow to go to God in prayer, because they think they are OK on their own... that they will be able to manage on their own...

·        But those who are humbled and humble, know that they need God and therefore they are quick to cast themselves and their burdens on the LORD in prayer...! They know that they are but mere servants that are in need of their LORD to give them strength.

·        They are in need of His attention (v1) ... of His presence (v16) ... and of His reassurance (v17) ...

·        They need to know and experience that God is with them and for them...!

·        That is why they go to Him in fervent and passionate prayer.

·        If you don’t realize that you need God, you will most probably not have a fervent and passionate prayer life...

·        That is why God in His providence and grace, ever so often, puts us into situations and circumstances that is “too much” for us, so as to remind us of how poor and needy we are and to then drive us to Him in prayer...!

2. A trusting heart... (v2-7, 14-15)

·        Fervent prayer stands as the manifestation and proof that you are trusting in God to help you... We are not trusting in prayer, but rather in the God to whom we are praying...!

·        Four times in this prayer David speaks to God as “LORD”, all capitals (cf. v1, 6, 11, 17) referring to the covenant Name of God, “Yahweh” which refers to God as the faithful God who keeps His promises...!

·        Seven times he speaks to God as “Lord”, first letter capitalized, (cf. v3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 12, 15) referring to God as “Adonai” which means that God is the sovereign LORD who is in control of everything.

·        Fervent prayer is focused and directed to the person of God, namely who He is...! It is to know who God is and then to trust in Him...! (cf. Ps 9:10)

·        His trust in God is based on His relationship with God – verse 2...

·        “Godly” is not referring here to being without sin, but rather as given unto God to live for Him and to enjoy His favour...

·        “Your servant” reveals the humilty and position that we should have in our relationship with God as we are trusting Him... it also implies that we come to Him with our requests and not with our commands and claims...!

·        “You are my God” makes it clear that this is a personal relationship that forms the basis of our trust in coming to our God in prayer...!

·        What does he trust God for in prayer?

·        To preserve and keep his life – protection... to be gracious to him in giving and providing for him what he needs – provision... to gladden His soul – to give him joy... He trusts that God will listen to him and answer Him... He trusts that God will deliver and save and protect him from his enemies...

·        Why does he trust God for these things?

·        Because of who God is – His character...! Verse 5, 15 is crucial for us to believe about God if we are going to be fervent and passionate in prayer. (cf. Exo 34:6-7)

·        The Psalmist, in fervent prayer, didn’t look to God through his circumstances, but rather through God to his circumstances...!

·        He knew what was true about God and therefore interpreted His circumstances through those truths, even though at this stage is didn’t maybe look like God was all those things...!

·        In his fervent prayer he was praying who God is back to God and also in that he was preaching to himself in his prayer so as to come in line with the will of God in his prayer...!

·        God is good, forgiving, merciful, gracious, slow to anger, faithful, steadfast in love... All the time, and all the time He is...

·        Fervent and passionate prayer flows from a heart that believes that God is the great I am and that He will never change...!

·        How does he manifest his trust in God?

·        He cries all day long... He lift up his soul to God... He calls upon Him... He pleads for grace...

·        It shows how urgent, desperate and complete His trust in God was... God wasn’t just one of the “things” He trusted in and tried... God was the only One that He trusted in...!

·        God was His plan A-Z... he had no other plan and resource that he trusted in...!

3. A praising heart... (v8-10, 12-13)

·        Closely related to the previous characteristic, having a praising heart also flows from knowing who God is, and specifically having a very high view of God...!

·        A high view of God leads to fervent and passionte prayer.

·        Knowing that there is no one like God, no other beings works can even start to compare with God and what He has done and is doing... that all the nations were made by Him and that they will all come and bow before Him, for He is the only true God...!

·        It is when your heart is in awe of God that you will praise Him in passionate prayer as David did here... that you will desire to lift up His name so that He will be glorified...!

·        It will also then move you to thank Him as part of your praise for what He has done for you...! A thankfulness that will include your whole being knowing that this great God has saved you and has chosen to love you...!

·        The longing to praise and glorify Him is what will drive you to passionate prayer...!

·        A heart that is in awe of God will move to call out to Him and fervently and passionately cry to Him!

·        Your prayers will never go higher or deeper than your view of God...!

4. A teachable heart... (v11a)

·        A humble heart that is longing to know the truth will lead to declaring to God its need for being taught by Him...!

·        It is when there is a hunger for God and therefore a hunger for the truth that it will bring about this earnest petition to God.

·        Q: Are you someone who is longing to know the truth of God...? What are you doing with the Bible...?

·        To know the truth requires that God Himself will lead us into it and teach us. We need God the Holy Spirit to enlighten the understanding of our hearts so as to be able to know and understand the truth...

·        Ps 119:18; Eph 3:15-19a

·        Behind fervent and passionate prayer is a heart that is longing to know the truth and an understanding that it is God alone who can lead us into the truth...!

5. An obedient heart... (v11b)

·        The ultimate purpose and reason behind why this kind of heart wants to know the truth is in order to walk in it... to obey it and practise a lifestyle of obeying it...!

·        The person who has this kind of heart, love God and it is their desire to obey Him so as to please Him and live a life that is worthy of the calling that He has placed on their lives...!

·        They do not want to respond to their circumstances in a wrong and sinful way, but desire to be taught by God so that they can respond to whatever life is throwing at them in a way that will honour God and please Him...!

·        Throughout the Bible, love for God and obedience to God goes together...

·        It is when someone loves God that they will have a desire to know His ways in order to do them, and that is why they will be calling upon Him to teach them His ways...

·        That is why a lack of passionate and fervent prayer ultimately stands as a lack of love for God... a lack of desiring to honour and please Him...!

·        That brings us to the last and climatic characteristic of a heart that is given to passionate and fervent prayer, namely...

6. An undivided heart... (v11c)

·        There is most probably no other thing that will hinder passionate and fervent prayer more than a divided heart... a heart that is not given completely to the LORD...!

·        Jesus warned us very clearly against this in Matt 6:19-24...

·        If your heart is divided, you will soon not be given to passionate prayer, because something else will be more important to you...

·        God is not mocked or deceived when it comes to this... He knows our hearts and it is only when our hearts are undivided, that we will experience a growing level of intimacy with Him...!

·        2 Chron 16:9; Jer 29:13; Jam 4:8

·        The reality is that we are prone to wander and so we need to plead with God that He will help us to fear Him alone and to not give ourselves to any other idols in our lives...!

·        This is maybe the greatest thing that we need to plead God for at this time for ourselves and for our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ – that God would unite their hearts to love Him with all of their heart, soul, mind and strength...!

·        It is an undivided heart that will seek God passionately and fervently in prayer...!

Closing Thoughts:

·        This then is what needs to be characteristic of your heart and my heart if we are going to be fervent and passionate in prayer.

·        All of these characteristics is based on one overarching desire and longing namely to know God and to be in an intimate relationship with Him... if that is not there, our hearts will not be needy, trusting, praising, teachable, obedient or undivided...

·        That will actually be the direct opposite of these characteristics namely self-sufficient, doubting, blaspheming, arrogant, rebellious and divided...

·        Q: What is the state of your heart...? If you don’t know, maybe ask yourself – what is the state of your prayer life...?

·        May the LORD be gracious to you and to me, to us, to work in us this kind of heart so as to seek and know and please Him...!