What Results do You Expect From Prayer?

Psalms 5:1–7
» View this passage in NIV (Bible Gateway)

Some Bible scholars have described this psalm as being divided into two parts: preliminaries to prayer (vv.1-7), and petition and praise (vv. 8-12).

David pleads with God to listen as he prays morning by morning (vv. 1-3). It shows that his first thoughts each day were prayer. One of the greatest needs among Christians is a personal time with the Lord each day. I have taken a survey in hundreds of  Bible believing churches over a period of years and found that less than five percent have a regular time of Bible reading and prayer time each day. Most Christians realize they need this time alone with the Lord but fail to take the time and consequently many pay a high price for this with all kinds of heartache. For the most part both parents and churches have failed to train their families in this basic step in the Christian life.

The psalmist expresses his confidence in approaching a God who hates evil and delights in answering the prayers of the righteous (vv. 4-7). When the righteous pray to God, they should expect results (James 5:16). Yet, prayer seems to be one of the most neglected and difficult things we do in the Christian life. If you don’t believe me just attend a “prayer meeting.” Usually only a small percentage of the total church or group ever attend and at least two thirds of the meeting is devoted to music and Bible study and prayer tends to be tacked on the end. The secret of a close relationship with God is to pray to Him earnestly at an appointed time each day. This is preferably in the morning when our minds are more free from problems and we can commit the whole day to God.

Application

One of the weakest areas of my Christian walk has been my prayer life. Because of the power of prayer I believe the devil works very hard trying to keep me from spending time in prayer. I am more committed than ever before to taking note of prayer requests and praying for others.