Andrew Comiskey
October 15, 2012 (Psalm 4:4)
‘When you are on your beds, search your hearts (‘ponder’ NAB) and be silent.’ (Ps. 4:4)
Prayer for me is as much about examining my own heart and priorities as much as it is about crying out for His will to be done out there. In other words, ‘let Your Kingdom come first to my impoverished heart, O God’!
We can ponder according to the parable of the house built on sand and rock. (Matt. 7: 24-27) We are in the storm of fierce idolatry. Are our ‘houses’ built on sand or rock? Have we acted according to His commands in regards to the idolatry of the day? Or are we still overly subject to worldly views, or to the lusts that toss us about in the world? Be silent; search your heart.
We then ask Him whether we have done all we can to help others secure their houses on the rock. Have we invested in strengthening the weak? Are morally vulnerable ones more secure upon the foundation of Christ and His Church through our service? Having suffered so in the world, do we help other afflicted ones find refuge in God? Search your heart and be silent.
‘The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against the house, but it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.’ (Matt. 7: 24-27)
‘Search our hearts, O God. Align our priorities with Yours. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we confess our sins of cowardice and compromise. We have violated Your holy commands in regards to what we have done to our bodies and other bodies. And in our compromise we have become cowards, unwilling to stand for what we know to be true for the dignity of all. We ask that You might have mercy on Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, and Washington; uphold marriage in these states, and in our nation, as the Supreme Court prepares to rule on ‘gay marriage.’
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