PRAISE & PRAYER PROMPT ••• Friends, I need you to do me a favor.
Please pull out your Bibles or pull up your Bible app.
Find 2 Samuel 7:18-29.
Will you please read it?
Today’s topic is center around David’s prayer.
The Prophet Nathan had just informed David of God’s plan and promise to build from David a lasting dynasty.
What I love about this prayer is 1) the awe-struck humility of David and 2) David’s focus on God’s greatness rather than his own.
It’s quite long so that’s why I’m not including it, but some of my favorite phrases are:
- “Who am I, O Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?”
- “How great you are, O Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you.”
- “May your name be honored forever so that everyone will say, ‘The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is God over Israel!’”
- “Your words are truth, and you have promised these good things to your servant.”
- “…when you grant a blessing to your servant, O Sovereign Lord, it is an eternal blessing!”
So often, our prayers are self-focused.
Y’all have heard me call those a “Heavenly to-do list.”
And I struggle with this!
I have a prayer list I keep that on an app, prayers in my heart, the prayers I see pop up on Facebook… there are so many things we need God’s help with.
But in the middle of our prayer lists is a great, good, generous, loving, caring, almighty God who is bigger than all our requests and worthy of all our praise.
A big takeaway from reading David’s Prayer is he never acknowledged that he felt God’s blessings were deserved.
He started the prayer off with “Who am I, O Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?”
David was a shepherd.
He had a simple upbringing with a humble heart.
He didn’t let power or money override his humility because He knew that all blessings were a gift from God.
And that knowledge not only made him grateful, but he was in awe that God showed such personal interest in him.
Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew 6:9-13.
And as it demonstrates in the first lines, our prayer priority should be praise to God: “Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.”
My questions to you today… are your prayers shaped in humble awe and reverence to God?
Or are they a checklist?
I admit that too often, my prayers look more like a checklist.
And I think maybe, that’s one of the reasons Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, “Never stop praying.”
When we keep the prayer lines open as an ongoing dialogue with God, we don’t need to worry about handing over a big list at once.
We can take our time.
Savor His goodness and power and keep the lines of communication open.
And I have to point out one more observation before I wrap it up today.
David’s prayer was written around 1000 BC, give or take a few decades.
Jesus’ instructions to pray arrived a thousand years later and with His arrival, God’s promise to David for was fulfilled.
As a descendant of David, Jesus is our Heavenly King and He will reign forever, thus securing the eternal dynasty.
Today, as you pray, acknowledge God as David did—with humble reverence and gratitude that He cares about you and your life.
Ask the Holy Spirit to help you pray without ceasing and to prioritize your prayers on God’s great goodness before your own to-dos.
