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Pray:
Ask God to orient or reorient you to himself. Confess any known sin. Thank him for his forgiveness. Be still and reflect on Jesus and his sacrifice for you. Ask the Holy Spirit to open your heart and mind to God’s word. Pray for others in your life that they too would know and love God today.
Read:
Psa. 25:1 To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul; 2 in you I trust, O my God. Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. 3 No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse. 4 Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; 5 guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. 6 Remember, O Lord, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. 7 Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O Lord. 8 Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways. 9 He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. 10 All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of his covenant. 11 For the sake of your name, O Lord, forgive my iniquity, though it is great.
Understand:
Anthropomorphism is a word that describes attributing human traits to God. This is not to make God into a man but rather to understand God by way of analogy. A key way we can grow in our understanding is through analogy…”this is like that.” David is asking God to “remember not” the sins of his youth. He is feeling the oppression of remembering his sin. He is not asking God to literally forget. God cannot learn, or forget, or remember like we do. All knowledge is perfect and immediate to him. He knows all, all the time. David is asking God to “act towards him as if he had forgotten” his sins. To treat him, to see him, as still untainted by his sins.
Apply:
What sins do you wish you could forget? Do you wish others could forget them as well? Do you wish God could forget them? In fact God has, in practical terms, “forgotten your sins.” He sees you and treats you as if they had not happened. Why do you feel you are being “punished” for them? It could be that you need to “accept” what God has said about your sins. It could be you are listening to the wrong voices in regards to your sin…your own mind full of guilt, or Satan, the accuser. It could be you are persisting in your sins and what you call punishment is really God’s attempt to get your attention and to turn you away from all that turns you away from him.
*From what you have just read and considered what is a personal implication/application for your life today?
Live:
(Personalize this prayer for today, make it specific to the circumstances that face you.) Ask God to lead you through his Spirit as you go through your day. Ask him to bring to mind the truth of the gospel and its implications for what you will encounter today. Tell him “Yes” to his will today and ask him for his power and protection to live this “yes.” Ask him to create and reveal opportunities to proclaim the good news today. KEEP PRAYING THROUGHOUT YOUR DAY TODAY.