Welcome to week 7 of our Psalm 119 study. I am so excited that you are hanging in there because we are nearing the finish line! Only two more weeks left in this study…
This Psalm is just filled with emotion. The author holds nothing back. He praises God and he pours out his troubles and fear. He shares about God’s goodness and laments about the evils of his enemies. This poor man seems to be tossed all over the place emotionally, but one things that never changes is his trust in God. Never once do we see him shake his fist at God in anger, blame him, or give him the silent treatment. As a matter of fact, he talks to God about every little thing.
This Psalmist knows how to pray, and it’s what this first section of the week (vs. 145-152) is all about: prayer.
I love Spurgeon’s breakdown of these verses so I will share them with you…
Vs 145- How he prayed (with his whole heart)
vs 146 – What he prayed for  (to be saved)
vs 147 – When he prayed (early morning)
vs 148 – How long he prayed (he prayed late into the night)
vs 149 – What he pleaded to God about (that God would hear him)
vs 150 – What was happened at the time of his prayer (his enemies were closing in)
vs 151- How he was rescued (By remembering that God is even closer than his enemies and that  all of His words are true. No matter what happens to him in this life he knows that God holds his soul, which means that it is eternally secure).
vs – 152 – The result (he is encouraged because he knows that God’s word has been true since the beginning of time and will continue to be true forever.)
Prayer is so important and powerful, but we have a hard time really believing this. We often make praying our last resort. We talk things over with our friends before we talk things over with God.
In our marriages we think that nagging is stronger than prayer. And that our words will change our husbands instead of God’s powerful hand.
Even in my own personal life I see myself worry and stress and become anxious instead of praying without ceasing to a God who is my salvation.
Prayer is an amazing grace in our life. The fact that the almighty God – the King before whom we would automatically fall on our face because he is too glorious to look at – invites us to come into his presence through prayer is amazing. This God hears our quietest whispers and pays close attention to every word we say to him.
God uses prayer in ways that we don’t fully get. He uses prayer to bring about his purposes, to save, to heal, to protect, to comfort, to bring peace and joy.
Let’s make David’s prayer life an example for our own life. He talked to God about everything. He poured out his fears, frustration and confusion. He asked God for help, and in the end praised him for his greatness and for the fact that he hears us.
Looking To Jesus,
Congratulations to the winners of the 2 VIP tickets to the Denver Women of Faith conference! Did you win? Check here!
WEEK 7 Video:
WEEK 7 Challenge:
Life is busy and I am forgetful. I am guessing that I am not alone here, so our challenge this week is to make a list of people we want to pray for regularly, as well as some things in our life that we worry or stress about. Think of a couple of creative ways to help remind yourself to pray throughout the day, and then start praying! 🙂
WEEK 7 Reading Plan
Week 7 Memory Verse
Thanks Lord that i can come to you any time and any place. I put on your hands all my worries and my happiness. Keep me in your presence and help me to focus on you in any solution I need first.
Ralambotiana beautiful prayer. I believe this is a prayer we can all pray. Thank you for sharing that with us. I hope that you have a wonderful day! (Jennifer, LGG Encourager)
Thank you so much for sharing this heart felt prayer!
What a timely word for this season in our lives! This is a confirmation to what God has been ministering to me. I’ve been in a huge battle of the mind, as fighting discouragement, unable to sense His favor. It’s been a warfare, where I’ve felt faithless in my prayers. But, just a couple weeks ago, the Lord gave me a specific scripture and devotion and I felt He was strongly encouraging me that He hears me and is listening. Then, last two weeks, particularly last week, I feel like I shut down. But, today, I hear the mandate, encouragement and call to not lose the place of prayer. Fight for it and don’t let the enemy shut you down. Our prayers are effective and are making impact. There’s so much to say…But, I’m just grateful that He is speaking and confirming His word to me. Time to get back in the fight! Blessings to you.
Jessa,
I am so happy that you got your confirmation from the Lord. our prayers are definitely effective and do make an impact. I heard something at church last night that i wanted to share with you on prayer. It is “God can do more in a second then we can do in a lifetime” meaning all we have to do is pray and God’s got this. I hope you have a wonderful day. (Jennifer, LGG Encourager)
How wonderful that the Lord sent you encouragement. The Christian life is a battle. We have to fight against so many different enemies but the Lord is faithful!
I am enjoying this study immensely. Digging into Gods word is a great way to grow closer to our Father. In all the digging I have done, I believe the author of this Psalm is Ezra the priest. Last week day 4 our soap verse is what made me dig. (141-143) though I am lowly and despised, I thought David was not lowly and he was liked. So I dug and my bible said author: anonymous, some suggest Ezra the priest. So I looked up the book of Ezra and it is stated in the write up for him that it is suggested he wrote psalm 119. Thank you ladies for all you do for us all with this great study! I look forward to the emails and videos.
These verses today really showed me the desperation of the writer. He sounds desperate for God…for help and understanding and time spent with the Lord…to the point of sacrificing sleep and comfort. Feeling convicted today to prioritize my time better. I want to be that desperate for my Lord too…and not just when there is some external pressure driving me to my knees!
Oh yes! I totally agree! I wish I felt this “desperate” for God myself. It is a beautiful and hard feeling,
I, too, was convicted after reading today’s verses. I need to deepen my prayer life with God. The Psalmist cried out to God with all of his heart from before dawn until late into the night. I started to think about where I turn for comfort and how much of my time I invest in prayer. Not enough. I also thought about how often I consult God’s Word for deeper insight and understanding in times of confusion and suffering and pain. There’s room for improvement here, too. Our Challenge this week will help both of us prioritize our time better and take steps to deepen our prayer life – throughout all of our days, not just in desperate times! Lifting you in prayer as we both seek to do this! ~ Jean, LGG Encourager
First I want to thank you so much for your amazing ministery! The bible studies are always so encouraging. They feed my soul and make me grow!!
I wanted to share this. One day as I was worrying and stressing over a situation in my life, the Lord led me to this scripture- Jeremiah 32:27
“Behold, I am the Lord, the GOD of all flesh: is there ANYTHING too hard for me?”
It just blew me away! I thought what in the world am I worrying about??? And right then and there I put it in God’s hands and He took care of it in a way I would have never, ever imagined!
Ladies, He is an AWESOME GOD!!! And He loves us so much!
Trust Him. Praise Him. Feed on His word and let it nourish you.
Love you all
Sue Menges
Yes! Thank you for pointing us to truth and encouraging us with scripture!! The Lord is awesome indeed!
Hi Sue! I couldn’t agree with you more! God is at work through the Love God Greatly ministry in amazing ways! I, too, am growing through each and every Study that we do! Thank you for sharing your story! It touched my heart! I love when God puts a piece of Scripture before us that speaks to us – right where we are at! Our God is an awesome God! ~ Jean, LGG Encourager
I’ve been so encouraged by how real David is with the Lord! He’s bold and holds nothing back. I’m amazed at his close relationship with the Lord to be able to pray this way. I want that in my own life.
Anastasia, So glad that this study is encouraging you along the way.
Blessings, Amy A, LGG Encourager
I have really enjoyed this study. God brought me to this book about 2 weeks before I knew you were going to do it.
It worked out really great as when I was going through I was having questions. I love the SOAP method.
I have been using it in other studies and it truly has helped me to understand Gods word so much more.
Thank you so very much.
Amen
Christy,
We are so glad that you are enjoying the study. Hebrews 11:6 tells us that God rewards those who diligently seek Him. Your desire to draw closer and nearer to God will not go unnoticed. I can’t wait to hear your testimony of the wonderful things that God has shown you and the growth that you have experienced. LGG is proud to be a part of your journey! Blessings to you!
~Terria (LGG Encourager)
I have a question about prayer. I have recently lost a dear friend that I used to pray with every time we talked. I was talking to another good friend who recently lost her mom. Her mom prayed all the time for her grand daughter and she was worrying that since her mom was no longer alive that she now needed to pray more for her grand daughter. I encouraged her that I thought that her mom’s prayers were eternal and still in progress. I wanted to know if there is scripture to support this.
Are our prayers eternal? even after someone dies? I know I feel such loss because my friend was such a prayer warrior. Thanks for this study.
Vivian,
What a good question! Here are a couple thoughts. We don’t find any verses in the Bible that talk about our prayers being eternal, but we do know that when we offer up prayers to God they count. Just because someone passes away that doesn’t mean that their prayers become void. God heard those prayers and he will act in one way or another.
Here is our hope, that Christ is our intercessor (Romans 8:34)! We don’t need anyone to pick up their slack. It is wonderful to pray with someone, but our prayers are also powerful on their own because Christ perfects them and offers them to God on our behalf.
Wow, just the challenge I needed! Thanks for throwing it down Jen!!! I am going to try to write a few names in my daily planner, make a list to tape on my mirror to keep me focused! And I am also working towards more focused prayer time following dinner to help teach our girls and my hubby and I getting back into more focused devotional time and prayer together! Whew! But with God all things are possible!
Laura, So glad to see you taking up the challenge! You have blessed us by stopping in to let us know.
Blessings, Amy A, LGG Encourager
Thank you. I would not have believed how much I’d get out of something I’m doing alone and through the computer!
I’m a people person, have taken four years of BSF and many years of other Bible studies, and yet, listening to the videos and following along with the reading plan and learning to SOAP has been a wonderful learning experience….thank you so much for all you put into these studies.
Sincerely, Donna Jones