A Prayer for Deliverance
“When we struggle to breathe, we can find relief in His faithfulness.”
Psalm 42 (NIV)
As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, my God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?
My tears have been my food
day and night,
while people say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
These things I remember
as I pour out my soul:
how I used to go to the house of God
under the protection of the Mighty One
with shouts of joy and praise
among the festive throng.
Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.
My soul is downcast within me;
therefore I will remember you
from the land of the Jordan,
the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.
Deep calls to deep
in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers
have swept over me.
By day the Lord directs his love,
at night his song is with me—
a prayer to the God of my life.
I say to God my Rock,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go about mourning,
oppressed by the enemy?”
My bones suffer mortal agony
as my foes taunt me,
saying to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.
Reflection
The average person can hold their breath thirty to sixty seconds. Take a long, deep breath before reading.
In today’s psalm, the author longs to be in Jerusalem, worshiping with other believers in God’s chosen city. He feels abandoned and forgotten. He knows where his God is, but he confesses some dark feelings and cries out to Him.
Pain creates a challenging environment for people to embrace God because pain causes us to wonder if God is who He says He is. He is the all-powerful God of love, but sometimes we get disoriented by our struggles. Just like the psalmist, we go through trials that keep us from connecting to the rest of God’s community.
“Where is your God now?” Can you imagine being asked this by scrutinizing unbelievers while right in the throes of suffering? In this passage onlookers taunt the psalmist, and if we’re not watchful when the world taunts us, we can slip into feelings of depression and bad decision making.
It’s sometimes difficult to expect God’s deliverance from trials when we are suffering. Like harbor rocks overcome by breaker waves, we barely recover from the first hit when we’re quickly pummeled again. In fact, life’s troubles often come in frightening, determined waves; it can feel as if the waves are collaborating to bring about our demise.
So, what do you do if you’re in over your head? Don’t swim alone and do expect God to bring you through the storm. As a Christian community, we should be lifting each other up in God’s goodness by collectively remembering, rehearsing, and reinforcing testimonies of how He has brought us through to the safe side of the harbor.
Today’s psalmist even encourages his own heart. He isn’t giving up! He recognizes that ultimately the source of true joy is the presence of God. Looking at life through clouded lenses keeps us from seeing His greater plan. We must praise Him even through storms because we know His presence is constant, and He is in control. When we struggle to breathe, we can find relief in His faithfulness. Challenge your downcast soul today and be encouraged. Now, exhale.
Action Steps
1. Contemplate what we know to be true about God. Complete this list with your own testimony:
*He is good
*He keeps His promises
*He will never leave us
*He loves us as his own children
2. Lift someone else up with a testimony of how God saved you from crashing waves.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, please allow Your Holy Spirit to move in me. Help me receive Your wisdom and insight and apply it to my life. Thank You for Your faithfulness and grace. Cover my heart with Your love, guidance, and protection. Help me expect Your deliverance, even when I’m afraid and hopeless. Give me the strength to challenge my own thinking and remind me to put my hope and trust in You. In Jesus’ name, amen.
As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, my God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?
My tears have been my food
day and night,
while people say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
These things I remember
as I pour out my soul:
how I used to go to the house of God
under the protection of the Mighty One
with shouts of joy and praise
among the festive throng.
Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.
My soul is downcast within me;
therefore I will remember you
from the land of the Jordan,
the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.
Deep calls to deep
in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers
have swept over me.
By day the Lord directs his love,
at night his song is with me—
a prayer to the God of my life.
I say to God my Rock,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go about mourning,
oppressed by the enemy?”
My bones suffer mortal agony
as my foes taunt me,
saying to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.
Reflection
The average person can hold their breath thirty to sixty seconds. Take a long, deep breath before reading.
In today’s psalm, the author longs to be in Jerusalem, worshiping with other believers in God’s chosen city. He feels abandoned and forgotten. He knows where his God is, but he confesses some dark feelings and cries out to Him.
Pain creates a challenging environment for people to embrace God because pain causes us to wonder if God is who He says He is. He is the all-powerful God of love, but sometimes we get disoriented by our struggles. Just like the psalmist, we go through trials that keep us from connecting to the rest of God’s community.
“Where is your God now?” Can you imagine being asked this by scrutinizing unbelievers while right in the throes of suffering? In this passage onlookers taunt the psalmist, and if we’re not watchful when the world taunts us, we can slip into feelings of depression and bad decision making.
It’s sometimes difficult to expect God’s deliverance from trials when we are suffering. Like harbor rocks overcome by breaker waves, we barely recover from the first hit when we’re quickly pummeled again. In fact, life’s troubles often come in frightening, determined waves; it can feel as if the waves are collaborating to bring about our demise.
So, what do you do if you’re in over your head? Don’t swim alone and do expect God to bring you through the storm. As a Christian community, we should be lifting each other up in God’s goodness by collectively remembering, rehearsing, and reinforcing testimonies of how He has brought us through to the safe side of the harbor.
Today’s psalmist even encourages his own heart. He isn’t giving up! He recognizes that ultimately the source of true joy is the presence of God. Looking at life through clouded lenses keeps us from seeing His greater plan. We must praise Him even through storms because we know His presence is constant, and He is in control. When we struggle to breathe, we can find relief in His faithfulness. Challenge your downcast soul today and be encouraged. Now, exhale.
Action Steps
1. Contemplate what we know to be true about God. Complete this list with your own testimony:
*He is good
*He keeps His promises
*He will never leave us
*He loves us as his own children
2. Lift someone else up with a testimony of how God saved you from crashing waves.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, please allow Your Holy Spirit to move in me. Help me receive Your wisdom and insight and apply it to my life. Thank You for Your faithfulness and grace. Cover my heart with Your love, guidance, and protection. Help me expect Your deliverance, even when I’m afraid and hopeless. Give me the strength to challenge my own thinking and remind me to put my hope and trust in You. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Recent
Archive
2024
January
My Only AimRun to WinSetting Aside the Good for the BestDon’t Lose HeartFight the Good FightReflecting on Finishing Well…Not The Year But LifeLook UpPurposed in My HeartA Life of PrayerTo the Left or to the Right Seeking Godly CounselThe Word of the LordReflecting on Looking UpLooking BackGod is FaithfulSpiritual EyesRememberWorthy of PraiseThrough All GenerationsReflecting on Looking BackLook DownMoments of TruthThink It ThroughGod-Centered DecisionsLive Without Regrets Heartbreaking HindsightReflecting on Looking DownLooking ForwardA Solemn WarningSeeking God’s WillLearning What Is Good
February
Nothing Is HiddenAt The CrossroadsReflecting on Looking ForwardConsider Your WaysOpen Your EyesLord, Open Our Eyes!Seeing the UnseenKeeping Our Eyes on JesusTrusting God AloneGod Is With UsReflecting on Open your Eyes The Calling of GodIf it Pleases the KingFollow MeHere Am IFuture BlessingsWhat Do You Want Me To Do?Reflecting On The Calling of GodNot Coming DownWhen Adversity Arrives Focused on the CallingThe Armor of GodThe Voice of OppositionGod’s Glory on DisplayReflecting On Not Coming DownThe Principle of “And”Prayer and PetitionEvaluate and Get StartedPray and FightWork and ProtectLiving with Purpose
March
Faith and WorksReflecting on The Principle of “And”Bad Timing is Perfect TimingConsider Your WaysThe Richness of JesusSacrificial GivingThe Willing HeartThe Blessings of ObedienceReflecting on Bad Timing is Perfect TimingLegacySetting a Godly ExampleThe Next GenerationHanding Down FaithfulnessGod’s WisdomTeach Your Children WellReflecting on LegacyEveryone Did Their PartUnited With PurposeStaying the CourseWalk In UnityEmbrace My RoleAm I accountable?Reflecting on Everyone Doing Their PartClarity to PainPraying through the PainThe Throne of GraceCasting Your CaresRedeeming Our PainRestoredReview: Reflecting on Clarity to PainThe Cross Brings Clarity of God’s Love
No Comments