Praying According to the Will of God through the Scriptures

By Jerelyn Pearson

 

The Bible is filled with prayers prayed according to the will of God. Recently my daily Bible reading included Psalm 85. Let's take a look at this Psalm in light of personal prayer and fellowship with our Heavenly Father and his Son Jesus Christ.

As we read Psalm 85, think about what the main idea or the subject of this Psalm is. 

Psalm 85:1-13:
1 LORD, thou hast been favourable unto thy land: thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob. 
2 Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sin. Selah. 
3 Thou hast taken away all thy wrath: thou hast turned thyselffrom the fierceness of thine anger. 
4 Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause thine anger toward us to cease. 
5 Wilt thou be angry with us for ever? wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations? 
6 Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee? 
7 Shew us thy mercy, O LORD, and grant us thy salvation. 
8 I will hear what God the LORD will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly. 
9 Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land. 
10 Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. 
11 Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven. 
12 Yea, the LORD shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield her increase. 
13 Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of his steps.

So what is this Psalm about?  It is a prayer for a nation and its citizens. 

There are many layers in scripture. For example:  There is the temporal city of Zion. And there is the eternal Zion. I found this information in a book called Mapping the Psalms by Tim Sullivan.

• "The temporal city of Zion was only a shadow of things to come.  (This section of Psalms) focuses on the eternal Zion. This Zion is 'the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem' (Heb. 12:22)."

• "Psalm 85 is a NATIONAL prayer for the citizens of Zion."

 

As I read Psalm 85, I was inspired to pray for my nation according to these scriptures.

As you read verses 1-3, notice to whom the Psalmist is speaking and what he is acknowledging.

Psalm 85:1-3:
1 LORD, thou hast been favourable unto thy land: thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob. 
2 Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sin. Selah. 
3 Thou hast taken away all thy wrath: thou hast turned thyselffrom the fierceness of thine anger. 

In verses 1-3, to whom is the Psalmist speaking? (the Lord God) What is the Psalmist acknowledging? (What the Lord has done)

Couldn't we address the Lord and acknowledge what he has done for our nation? He has greatly blessed this nation. We have so much to be thankful for. He does forgive us and he has covered our sin through his son Jesus Christ.

In verses 4-7, notice what requests are made.

4 Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause thine anger toward us to cease. 
5 Wilt thou be angry with us for ever? wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations? 
6 Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee? 
7 Shew us thy mercy, O LORD, and grant us thy salvation. 

"Turn us" -  I love this phrase.  I pray that the Lord will turn us as a nation, and especially turn us as his people within this nation, to him and his will. I also pray that he would revive us, show us mercy, and grant us his salvation.

In verses 8-13,  notice what the psalmist does and what he declares.

8 I will hear what God the LORD will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly. 
9 Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land. 
10 Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. 
11 Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven. 
12 Yea, the LORD shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield her increase. 
13 Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of his steps.

What does the Psalmist do? In order to "hear what God the LORD will speak," the Psalmist must listen. How much of our prayer time do we spend actually listening? I find that when I take time to listen, I receive encouragement.  It may not be the immediate answer to my request, but I receive encouragement to wait upon the Lord and to know that these words are true.

What does the Psalmist declare?

I've always heard that every book of the Bible is about Jesus Christ. I haven't always been able to comprehend it specifically.  Here it seems so clear!

In verses 9-10 this Psalm speaks of salvation, glory that dwells in our land, mercy and truth that have met together, righteousness and peace that have kissed,

In verse 11 that truth shall spring out of the earth, righteousness shall look down from heaven,

In verse 13 Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of his steps.

I came to see that these words aren't just abstract concepts, but are a description of who Jesus Christ is. I went searching for prayer and found not only prayer, but I found Jesus Christ!

As I stated earlier, the Bible is filled with prayers prayed according to the will of God. As you read scriptures each day, I would encourage you to be watchful for these prayer passages. Take the time to meditate upon them and apply them to your personal concerns and circumstances, whether it is praying for your nation, for yourself, or for others.

 

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