Key Verses: Psalm 141:1-2 “Lord, I cry out to You; make haste to me! Give ear a to my voice when I cry out to you. Let my prayer be set before You as insincere, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.” For the next several devotionals we will be working our way through psalm 141. Like many of the other psalms, psalm 141 begins with a cry to God. David says that he cries out God, and He begs God to make haste to him. This first sentence in Psalm 141 is a perfect example of what prayer is supposed to be. Prayer is meant to be a desperate plea for God’s assistance! It is a cry for help, it is us begging God to act on our behalf because we know that we are not strong enough to deal with our current situation. Prayer is supposed to be a genuine plea for God to draw near to us and comfort us with His presence. This is exactly what David is doing here. David knows and understands how desperately he needs God. He the asks that God hear his cry, and then he asks that his prayers be like incense that goes up before God. In many places in the Bible the prayers of God’s people are viewed as incense that goes up into the heavens and appears before God who is seated on His throne. Incense also had a desirable scent that was pleasant for one to smell. In the same exact way our prayers are pleasant to God. He loves to hear our prayers, and here David is asking that his prayers are something God desires to hear. David also asks that his lifted hands during his time of prayer would be as the evening sacrifice. David desires that God would be pleased with his prayer and act accordingly. Prayer is the greatest gift and responsibility that a Christian has. It is His greatest defense and his greatest offensive weapon against the forces of darkness. The problem is that most of us are not desperate enough to pray. We have this sense of delusion into thinking that we can handle our problems and can make the best decision without seeking God’s assistance. The reality is simple, we all desperately need God to act on our behalf! David understood this and He was a king. He had more influence, wealth, and power then we could ever imagine, yet he knew he was dependent upon God for all of it! That’s way all throughout the Psalms we see David humbly begging God to act! We need to be desperate before God and pray in a way that pleases Him and beg him to act on our behalf!
