Lesson 9: Praying Like David

“Talking to God gives every part of my life the right meaning.”

To learn that prayer is sharing all of our events and feelings with God and accepting his perspective.

Many of the psalms are prayers. Many of them were written by David.

► Did you know that in one of the psalms a writer prayed for God to break someone’s teeth? Have you ever noticed things in the psalms that are hard to understand?

The psalms tell us something important about prayer.

Prayer is talking to God, and talking has significance. Just the fact that talking is going on is significant. The fact that some people won’t talk to each other shows that talking has significance in itself.

One leader said before a negotiation that was called to prevent a war, “When men run out of words, they reach for their swords; let’s pray that we can keep them talking.” He knew that when the negotiators stopped talking, it meant they had given up on coming to an agreement.

If you stop talking to God or don’t want to talk about some things, it may be because you think you can’t agree with him on those things.

The psalms have always been popular for use in personal devotions, but there are some things there that are hard to understand. What are we supposed to think about the verse that prays for God to break someone’s arm (Psalm 10:15) or the verse that prays for God to knock their teeth out (Psalm 58:6)?

The psalms demonstrate that we should be talking to God about everything in our lives and everything we feel. There are things in the psalms that could seem shocking if we think of them as formal prayers about religious subjects. But, if we remember that we should be talking to God about everything, then we should expect those things to be there.

Why should we be talking to God about everything? Because what you talk about shows the scope of your relationship.

A relationship is sharing life. We all have some limited human relationships. There are people you work with, and with them maybe you share only one aspect of life. Because of that, there are many things that you don’t talk about.

► Has anyone been to a doctor or dentist recently? Did you talk to him about your financial concerns? Did you talk about your family problems? Did you talk about his financial concerns or family problems?

With your doctor, you share one aspect of life and talk about that. It is unusual to have a very personal conversation with your doctor about things unrelated to your physical condition. That’s because your relationship with him is limited; it relates to only one aspect of your life.

What do you talk to God about? Are there just a few types of things? Do you treat God like a professional (like a doctor, mechanic, or plumber) to whom you take certain kinds of problems? Are you keeping your relationship with God in a small area called the “religion zone”? Why do you not share the other parts of your life with God?

If there is not much for you to talk to God about, your relationship with him is narrow and shallow. Some people don’t talk to God unless they have “God-type” problems to bring to him.

Most young people who think they are in love think they need lots of time to talk. They talk about many subjects and also about each other. While talking about anything, they are explaining something about themselves, and each is learning more about the other.

Sometimes things happen in a relationship that put limits on it. Sometimes in a marriage, the husband and wife do not talk much. They purposely don’t talk about certain things. Their relationship has reached a limit.

What about your relationship with God? It is shallow if there is not much to talk about. It may mean that you see most aspects of your life as unconnected to God’s place in your life.

In relationships between people, sometimes certain topics become off limits. It may be that you want the person to do something or to stop doing something and he or she is unwilling. After that has been discussed many times, that topic becomes a sensitive one, and neither person brings it up except to start an argument.

Sometimes a person does not want to talk to God about something, because he already knows God’s will and does not accept it. What will happen in your relationship with God if you keep refusing to do something that God wants you to do?

► What makes a relationship keep growing?

A relationship grows as people learn more about each other and as each person adjusts. A relationship stops growing when it seems there is nothing more worth learning about the other or when people stop adjusting. We can keep getting more acquainted with God, but he does not need to change. We must be willing to keep being changed by our relationship with him.

The psalms show that every part of life is to be included in our relationship with God, because the psalm writers expressed in prayer their feelings about everything that was happening to them.

Besides all the concerns that people commonly pray about, the psalms have some concerns that might seem inappropriate for prayer.

What about anger against people and the desire for vindication? These prayers are calling for God to show that he is a God of justice. Is it right for a person to have all of the feelings that we see in the psalms? Maybe not, but what if a person does feel that way? What should he do? Wouldn’t talking to God about it be the best thing to do? He should give God a chance to respond to his feelings. That would be better than taking some kind of rash action.

What about when it seems that God is not helping you as he should? Some psalms ask God, “Why do you stand so far away; why do you hide from me when I need you?”[1] Does God really do that? We know that God is faithful, but sometimes we don’t understand why he doesn’t do something we think he should do. It is a mistake to think that God is not being faithful; but if you feel that way, what is the best thing to do? Talk to him about it. Give him the chance to explain. He will help you to see things as they are. That is much better than becoming bitter.

Is it right to pray for justice when others are doing you wrong? Is it right to ask for rewards for your faithfulness when you think you deserve better than you are getting? Is it right to pray for help even when you know you deserve the situation you have gotten yourself into? All these prayers are in the psalms. The psalms show us that we should go to God with everything.

If we are in a relationship with God that does not have limits, he shares every part of our life; everything is devoted to him. That means that everything in our life gets its real meaning from God. We should understand the things that happen to us by the light of that relationship.

Everything gets its proper place and value by being brought to God for adjustment. Unless you are praying about everything, soon many things will not make sense. Feelings will be far out of proportion. Decisions will be misguided. Attitudes will be inconsistent. You will begin to yield to discouragement and bitterness.

A person who is depressed, worried, frustrated, bitter at others, or even prosperous and wrongly-focused is not talking to God about everything like he should. A person who is worrying a lot is not praying a lot; a person who is praying a lot is not worrying a lot.

A guitar must be tuned occasionally, especially if it is being carried around, bumped, dropped, stepped on, or kicked. We are like guitars. We need the constant tuning that God gives us when we present ourselves to him.

The Lord is near to those with a contrite spirit (Psalm 34:18). We must be humble and submissive, presenting all to God and letting him answer his way. We can interpret things right when we have presented them to God for his response.

► What are you talking to him about? What are some things you need to talk to him about?

Use some of the following questions to encourage sharing:

► Have you ever been tempted to be angry at God?

► Have you ever felt that God should do something differently?

► Have you ever had a change of attitude about something while praying about it?

► Can you think of areas of your life that you are avoiding talking to God about? Why?

► Are there areas of your life that you have not really considered praying about?

Heavenly Father,

I want you to set the proper value of everything I have and the meaning of everything that happens to me. I want to bring my feelings about everything to you for your adjustment.

Help me to open to you all the parts of my life.

I want to be completely devoted to you. I want my relationship with you to include everything about me.

Help me to keep being changed by knowing you better.

Amen

Study Psalm 34. Write a paragraph about David’s confidence that everything can be brought to the Lord. Notice especially verses 15 and 18.