Moving God’s Way

Listen to my voice in the morning, LORD. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.
—Psalm 5:3

Somehow in our minds, we think that prayer is moving God our way. We tend to pray this way: “Lord, here is what I want You to do. I need You to do this.” But that isn’t what prayer is. Prayer is moving ourselves God’s way.

Prayer is not getting God to do what we want Him to do; prayer is getting us to do what God wants us to do. It is not getting our will in Heaven; it’s getting God’s will on earth. So, if you want to see your prayers answered in the affirmative, then align your will with the will of God.

The reason David could pray with the boldness we see in his psalms is that he was assured he was praying according to the will of God. And he was taking great liberty.

Does this mean that God will answer only the prayers that He inspires? Yes. Therefore, we need to wise up, get in line, and do it God’s way.

Jesus said, “But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!” (John 15:7 NLT). Jesus essentially was saying, “If you get your will in alignment with Mine, and My Word is at home in you, whatever you ask for, you will get because you will be praying according to My will.”

You might say this is the secret of having your prayers answered. Pray according to the will of God.

David had a relationship with God, and he had his priorities straight. Notice verse 3 of Psalm 5: “Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly” (NLT).

He brought his requests to God in the morning. He turned his heart toward the Lord in the morning. And that’s where we should turn our hearts as well.

We also notice from David’s prayer in Psalm 5 that he had a real burden. He said, “Pay attention to my groaning” (verse 1 NLT). Or, as the New King James Version puts it, “Consider my meditation.”

The original Hebrew hints at an unspoken prayer, the aching, longing, and yearning of the innermost being. Essentially, David was saying, “Consider my yearning. Consider my aching heart and what’s going on deep inside of me.”

Sometimes, we don’t know how to pray or what to say. For example, we might wake up in the middle of the night thinking about a family member or a close friend. Some situation is on our hearts, and we don’t really know what to pray. So, we say, “Lord, I don’t have the words. I just pray for them.”

That may be one of the most powerful prayers we could ever pray. Sometimes, a good prayer is a groan. We mistakenly think our prayers need to be lengthy and flowery. But a simple prayer, a yearning of the heart, just might be a prayer that is inspired by God.