Text- Psalm 62: 8 “O my people, trust in Him at all times. Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge”
Out text today exhorts us to put our trust in God at all times; this implies that we are not to put our trust in any creature or in any external thing; in possessions, wisdom, abilities, civil liberties, the government, our self-righteousness, or even in ourselves or any other person for that matter. We are to wholly trust in the Lord for both temporal and spiritual blessings.
The text further encourages us to pour out our hearts to God. If you ask me, the best way to show trust is by the pouring out of the heart; how much we trust someone determines the degree to which we pour out our heart to them; when we trust someone wholly, we pour out our hearts to them wholly – our deepest desires, our gravest fears, our grievances, distresses and complaints… Everything!
Lamentations 2:19 says, “Arise, cry out… Pour out your heart like water before the Lord's presence…” The allegory made to the pouring out of water is very profound! It means whenever we come before God in prayer, we must empty the contents of our hearts to Him. That is to say, there must be a free flow and full expression of the contents of our hearts, withholding nothing.
Hannah said in 1st Samuel 1:15, “…I haven’t been drinking. Not a drop of wine or beer. The only thing I’ve been pouring out is my heart, pouring it out to GOD.” That is exactly how God wants our prayer lives to look like. He is asking us to trust Him wholly and show that by pouring out our hearts to Him.
It is very expedient for us as Christians to ceaselessly pour out our feelings, desires, frustrations and worries to God in the place of prayer. A lot of people think that prayer is all about demand and guaranteed supply. Contrarily, the place of prayer is the place where you pour out your heart to God as an expression of your trust in Him.
Beloved, I want you to reflect on your prayer life today. What do you do when you pray? Do you tell God, in the fullest manner, every single thing on your heart, or you just perform a religious exercise of eloquence, saying “those things that must be said in prayer” with an automatically squeezed face and a careful selection of words.
If what you do is to get up to say your prayers in the morning, go about your day, make special requests when need be during the day, and say a word of prayer before you sleep at night, you do not have a prayer life; what you have, at best, is a prayer routine!
A good and strong prayer life entails a rich conversation between you and God throughout your everyday life; it means that you talk to God about anything and everything; it involves you being completely empty and honest before God daily and continually.
People of God, let’s trust in Him at all times; let’s pour out our hearts to Him daily and continually; let’s cast all our cares on Him, fully trusting that He knows what is best for us, and that He will work all things out for our good.
PRAYER
O Lord, in you I put my trust for you are my rock and fortress. POUR OUT YOUR HEART TO GOD.
Image Credit:jase92.deviantart.com