Our Purpose in Prayer (Ps 86, Part IV)

Teach me Your ways, O Lord,

    that I may live according to Your truth!

Grant me purity of heart,

    so that I may honor You.

With all my heart I will praise You, O Lord my God.

    I will give glory to Your name forever,

for Your love for me is very great.

    You have rescued me from the depths of death. – Psalm 86:11-13

Here David shows the desires of his heart.  “Teach me Your ways” and “Grant me purity of heart” are his requests but why does he ask for these things, so he can “live according to [God’s] truth [Word]”, so he can “honor [God]”, and so he can “give glory to [God’s] name forever”.  His desire is to be a blessing to God.  He wants everyone who comes into contact with him and who sees his actions or hears his words to know that the Lord is his God and He is a great God. 

The more I study prayer, the more I believe this is the foundation of all powerful prayer.  I have found myself asking questions about the purpose of the many things I ask for.  Why do I want God to protect my wife and sons?  Why do I want God to protect our family?  Why do I want God to bless us?  Why do I want this or that person to be healed?  Why do I want God to heal this or that relationship? And so on.  Do I want these things because I just want them?  Or because I think they’re the right things to pray for? 

No.  I must want these so that they honor God and that they bring glory to His name.  I want my sons to be protected so they can learn more about Him and become a witness to show everyone they come in contact with how great God is.  I want Julie and I to be protected so we can be a witness of what God can do when a marriage turns itself over to God and God alone.  I want our family to be protected and blessed so we can be a witness of what God will do if you depend upon Him.  I want those needing healing to be healed so everyone will know it was God who healed them and He gets glory for it.  I want painful relationships healed so everyone will give God the praise for it.

David testifies here that God’s “love for me is very great.”  God’s love for all of us is very great and He will rescue us from the depths of death.  In fact He has already done so if we believe in Jesus as His one and only Son.  That great love of God wants to answer all our prayers at all times, as any loving parent wants to do.  But He obviously has to answer them in the way that is not necessarily best for us, but best for those around us who need to meet Him, see Him, and be a witness to His glory. 

Through all our struggles and pain and intense desire for God to remove these things, let us be certain that the desires of our heart, above all else, is for God to be honored and praised.