“From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
“Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him.”
“You, God are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.”
When we pray, be careful not to start from the middle. When my brother and I were working on repairing old cars, we learned how to clean the rust off the body, apply primer, and then paint the car. The end product looked amazing. We were taught to make sure we got all the rust off the body before we applied the primer. Doing this middle step poorly meant that the new paint job was going to bubble up and look bad in a matter of months because the rust would grow and become more of a problem underneath the new paint.
We often do the same thing when we pray. We jump into the petition list and start looking at our vending machine of items we want and begin naming them. “God, can you help me get a good grade on this test? God, I need to make more money. God, help me lose weight. God, help me do…” and the list goes on.
The Bible tells us to pour out our hearts to the Lord, and Jesus tells us to keep praying and not lose heart. Being a father, I have been asked to do many different things, most of which started with, “Dad, can you…” With love in my heart, I would do this or that. David starts three Psalms with the three verses above. If you look closely, David is careful to acknowledge God first. It is almost like he is reminding himself where his allegiance lies. He is calling on God, yes, but first he puts God in the place He needs to be, at the front.
Mature Christians will see the petition list go to the middle of the prayer and take more time to acknowledge God at the beginning. Prayer is talking to God, so before you blast the Lord with your petition list, take some time to remind yourself where God is in your life first. Start by repeating what David wrote in these verses. Vending machine prayers don’t satisfy the soul, they have a way of making you focus only on your issues. Instead, focus on how big God is and remind yourself that you should call on the Lord, rest in the Lord, and earnestly seek the Lord before your petition list. Watch your prayers become worship and filled with thanksgiving first. Philippians 4:6 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Thanksgiving comes before your request. Try it.
Prayer: Father, help us to put You first in our prayers. Help us to rest in the Lord, earnestly seek the Lord, and thirst for You first before we pray our wants to You. Lord, I know You are a good Father and love to give good gifts to us, but I pray we seek the relationship with You first before all else, in Jesus’ name, amen.
Let It Go 
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