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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
Psalm 55:16-19
“16 As for me, I call to God, and the LORD saves me. 17 Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and He hears my voice. 18 He rescues me unharmed from the battle waged against me, even though many oppose me. 19 God, who is enthroned from of old, who does not change— He will hear them and humble them, because they have no fear of God.”
Understand
Here David says that he cries out to the Lord three times a day. Don’t think of these times as three distinct times, but rather as a way of expressing the totality of his day. It’s like saying, “I prayed non-stop throughout the day, without ceasing.”
Why would David pray like this? It’s because of who he trusted. Despite all the fear and confusion he faced, he never stopped believing in the One “who is enthroned from of old, who does not change.”
The fear that David was experiencing exposed his heart. The psalmist states that “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom” and declares “all who follow His precepts have good understanding” (Psalm 111: 10). David understood that ultimately the One he should most fear is the Lord.
David’s constant calling out to God was reorienting him back to reality. He understands that when we are less afraid of God than we are of other things or people, we get in trouble. It causes us to forget to fear God.
Remember that David is struggling with fear. Don’t miss what David is doing in the midst of that fear; he doesn’t run from it, but instead runs to God!
Apply
What do you fear right now?
Do you fear others? More than you fear God?
Where does fear drive you? Does it drive you to protect yourself, or does it drive us to our Protector God?
Talk to God right now. Tell Him what’s on your mind and ask Him to give you right prospective.
Live
(Personalize this prayer 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 and ask Him for His power and protection to live this “yes.” Ask God to create and reveal opportunities to proclaim the good news today. KEEP PRAYING THROUGHOUT YOUR DAY.