A Prayer for Guidance
To the Chief Musician. With flutes. A Psalm of David.
Give ear to my words, O Lord,
Consider my meditation.
Give heed to the voice of my cry,
My King and my God,
For to You I will pray. (Psalm 5:1, 2)
I know of not one Christian who can say, “Every time I’ve prayed, every request I’ve made to the Lord, has been answered within twenty-four hours, exactly per my word and request.”
What we pray and ask, the thing that makes our prayers perfect, is the will of God we seek for ourselves and those we love. His will works, for hearts and souls and families and nations, and sometimes His plans are not immediate:
We think of Joseph’s long ordeal in Egypt, and its generations-saving effect:
You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. (Genesis 50:20)
Is it possible that we have as few miracles of salvation and deliverance as we have Josephs: those willing to trust, to wait, to glorify God in faithfulness no matter their circumstances? We will persevere, by Your grace, Father, as we pray for our Dear Little Friends.
“Give ear to our words today, O Lord! Hear the voice of our cries for those we love, for those for whom we care deeply. Some are in prison, Father, as Joseph was. Remember how he suffered there, and remember those we love! Some are fatherless, as Joseph was, and some have been misunderstood, misrepresented, and even falsely accused. Most have been taken captive. Remember Joseph, Father, as if You could forget, taken down to Egypt in chains and all the sorrows of his heart, and remembering, deliver those for whom we pray.
. . . he sent a man before them—
Joseph, sold as a slave.
They bruised his feet with shackles,
his neck was put in irons,
till what he foretold came to pass,
till the word of the Lord proved him true. (Psalm 105:17-19)
Joseph Rejects Potiphar’s Wife, Rembrandt, 1634,
Wikipedia, by permission
Marketplace Monastics 