
If He didn’t, we wouldn’t. But He does, so we do!
Psalm 116:1-2
I love the Lord because he hears my voice
and my prayer for mercy.
Because he bends down to listen,
I will pray as long as I have breath!
If anyone ever asks me why I am a Believer, this Psalm is my answer... I love the Lord because he hears my voice and my prayer for mercy.
Society is trying to get relief from guilt and shame by socially outlawing shame by celebrating shameful behavior. The reason there are never ending levels to political correctness is because it isn’t working. A seemingly shameless culture still has a problem with shame. It can’t be driven out by banishing thoughts, by criminalizing words, by forcing baked goods on people, or by banning Scripture. Shame must be taken away; it’s the only way to get rid of it. And only God can do it.
Romans 10:11 confirms: As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.”And disgraced literally means shamed. Only trusting in God by believing in his Son (Romans 10:9) relieves us from our guilt and shame because God takes it from us. Living a life of utter relief is why I LOVE the Lord just like David sang about it Psalm 116.
Because he bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath! We might as well pray all the time since he bothers to listen! If He didn’t, we wouldn’t. But he does, so we do! And no one can ever stop me from praying. I remember having a conversation at work about prayer and the superiors were making a big deal about how we couldn’t pray at work. But the Believers were smiling during the meeting because we were praying the whole time they were telling us we weren’t allowed to pray. God made prayer something that no one on earth can interfere with, so why not do it all the time — especially since he’s listening all the time, why not? And that is also why I love him!
Dear God,
Thank you for listening to all my prayers – even the ridiculous ones! Thank you for giving me mercy and grace and relieving my guilt and shame. You are so good to me; you are great and greatly to be praised, and I love you with all of my heart. And I pray in Jesus’ name, amen.