Last night when I got into bed, I was completely wrecked by my sin—my selfishness in not loving my husband and children well, my discontentment, my quickness to anger, my quickness to speak out of anger… I could go on. And as I cried, I finally cried out to the Lord. I had been in the middle of writing this devotion on prayer, and yet turning to Him was not my first reaction. But the Lord, who sees and knows the depth of my sin much better than I do, met me and reminded me that He sees me in all my mess and loves me still. Indeed, there is great reward in prayer (Matthew 6:6).
Prayer is coming to my Father as a needy child, acknowledging my inability to change situations or people or my own heart, and then acknowledging that God is mighty and that He reigns, ascribing worth to the Lord for who He is.
In Psalm 44, this kind of worship is modeled for us. Here, the psalmist is very real with his emotions. His plea is raw with vulnerability. He feels abandoned, yet he begins and ends the psalm in recognition of God’s faithful love for His people. Despite feeling rejected and forgotten, he comes back to what he knows to be true: God is faithful.
This is just one way prayer blesses, or “rewards,” us. When we turn to God in prayer, we are reminded of who He is and who we are not. There is relief in remembering that we are not the center of all things—not even our own lives. He is. And as He recenters us, He is able to do serious work in our hardened hearts as only He can, bringing peace when we feel fraught with anxiety.
Of course, the ultimate reward of prayer is being in relationship with the Lord Himself. Prayer can be a form of worship because engaging in prayer reminds us that He is in our midst, in the details of our lives. “God is our refuge and strength, a helper who is always found in times of trouble” (Psalm 46:1). Regardless of our circumstances, He is sovereign.
“The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love” (Psalm 103:8). God knows our desperate need of Him, even when we don’t acknowledge it ourselves. He says, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). His presence alone is the perfect balm to our weary souls.
Prayer is an open invitation to relationship with God. It’s not always going to look pretty because we’re sinful, a broken and messy people. But Jesus’s blood covers all our sin—past, present, and future. He sees us in secret, knows the depths of our hearts, and loves us still.
Kimberly Girard is a well-loved child of God, wife of an extraordinary man, mother of three amazing kids, and writer living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. You can find her at Loud Singing and on Twitter.
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54 thoughts on "Worship Through Prayer"
Lord help me to pray.
I’ve heard enneagrams have demonic roots so I don’t use them anymore. Just thought I would share that since I saw you use them in your comment. They actually started with the doctrines of demons and divinations. Not part of Gods plan the way God wants us to view ourselves or each other.
God sees everything in you and what you can be. He never turns away from us just because we have failed. He’s always there for us waiting for us to come back to Him. Reminding ourselves everyday that even if we fall He loves us and wants a relationship with us is important. Hopefully I can remember this everyday all day.
Prayer is difficult for some. It awknowledges believing in something greater than yourself. Prayer helps me to see the beauty in the world and the imperfections of me. Knowing Jesus, has helped guide me to grow in my life. And prayer is helping me to remember that God has got me, just like he has those that I care for. He hears my prayers for those that don’t believe but are near to my heart. I love this one prayer that my mom gave me a necklace of with it inscribed on the back, it read, ” God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.” It’s a prayer I cling to when there are things I wish could change like some people’s hearts, or circumstances. It helps me understand that God hears and meets me where I am bringing me peace that He has the love and power to change others through the example I set. To see what God can do through me. To learn to love like Jesus and be guided by the Holy Spirit.
I pray for my friend Katie, for God to put his Heart on her. For her eyes to open and her heart to grow.
I think the psalmist who wrote Psalm 44 was definitely a Type 8 on the enneagram, if I had to guess! Coincidentally, that’s also my type and, boy, do Jesus and I have some talking to do. It’s interesting how the psalmist acknowledged the past and the faithfulness of God. But this is the first psalmist or even author that I can think of in the Bible that basically says, “What the ****, God??? What did we do to deserve this??”
The answer to that is everything, to be honest. We did everything to deserve his wrath and be abandoned and left to our own. That’s a type 8’s worst nightmare. But God, He is gracious and loving enough to adopt us as children though we can be rotten spoiled brats at times. And he trains us up as saints. So my prayer is that PRAYER would be my worship today as I am made more and more to be a saint for Him each day.
Michelle, what a great way to relate the Bible and it’s characters to us! I think your comment brought another dimension to the scripture I read this and allowed me to think about what would this be like if people today were saying these things.
How great is the power of prayer! Pray for your family, your friends, your neighbors, yourself and our Father! And keep praying and you will see that he hears you, he understands you and he will respond you!
Beautifully written! I know a lot of times we feel like our prayers have to perfect and we can’t come to God with our raw emotions. Yet, as we look at Psalm 44 we see the Psalmist expressing his very real emotions. They are not happy and joyful but raw emotions of being upset.
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Thanks God for loving me even though I am a mess! So glad He wants to have a relationship with me through prayer!
“We are not the center of all things—not even our own lives.” That’s GOOD!!!
I have a difficult time praying out loud in a group. I feel like I’m only concentrating on my words, I feel like the focus is on me and not on God. Anyone else have this problem?
Sandy I know exactly what you mean! I was always rehearsing my prayer in my head while others were praying so I’d know what to say when it was my turn. But I prayed, I didn’t keep quiet or let my nervousness in praying out loud stop me. As I’ve grown in my relationship with God and the closer I’ve gotten to him, something shifted. I recognized it one day, my prayers just felt different. I found myself praying one day without having it rehearsed, I just could speak. I still fumble on my words sometimes…and I still find myself starting to rehearse in my head…but as I’ve found confidence in who I am in Christ I have been able to remind myself to trust that He is in me and His words will flow out of my mouth. Don’t beat yourself up for where you are now, just keep pursuing Jesus with everything you have and watch Him continue to grow you! ❤️
He sees the depths of my heart and He loves me the same, you are amazing God!
One of the great fathers of the Orthodox Church once wrote:
“Satan may allow us to talk about God for many hours but he will never let us talk with him, even for a few minutes” – Fr. Pishoy Kamel
It really resonated with me in my struggles with true, relationship-building prayer.
God bless you Shes.
This is a poignant topic for me today. My kids have kept me up the past two nights and I don’t feel like I can organize my thoughts into prayers very well right now. I usually try to pray at night when I wake up (or an woken up) but last night my mind was all over he place, anxious about the kids, angry that I wasn’t getting sleep, anxious again about how today will go. I felt like a prayer failure. But I know that God knows my heart and he knows what I struggle with; he is generous with his grace. He knows what I was trying to pray even if I didn’t put it the right way or got distracted.
Hi, I’m Pillie from Kenya. These devotions have changed my life. Thank you so much for your consistency in sharing sound truth with us.
So encouraged, sisters, by your words, wisdom, and faith! May God bless each of you in a remarkable way today!
I truly don’t know how I would function daily without prayer. It is such an important part of my life. We just finished up a series at church called Pray like Jesus. Jesus continually prayed to God throughout the Bible. That alone shows us how important prayer is in having a meaningful relationship with God. If the son prays to the father, than so will I.
“The object of prayer is not to change the will of God but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant but that are made conditional on our asking for them. Blessings require some work or effort on our part before we can obtain them. Prayer is a form of work and is an appointed means for obtaining the highest of all blessings.” KJV Bible Dictionary
I struggle with accepting grace, yet each time I come back I am met with open arms from the Father. No matter how hard I fight sometimes, He will not let me go. Sin and doubt and anxiety have no match for His faithful and consistent love.
I’ve learned to pray the Word back to God, and Philippians 4:6-7 is definitely on repeat for me since I’m a worrier! “God, help me not to be anxious for anything, but in everything through prayer & supplication, let my requests be made known to You. And let Your peace, which surpasses all understanding, guard my heart & mind in Christ Jesus. Amen.” ❤️
Love this idea! Thanks for sharing.
Isn’t that a great book, Kristen? It definitely reminded me of all God is and how worthy He is worship. Thankful for all of the comments here on Prayer as worship. I have found using a prayer journal helps me focus as that is one of my challenges. By writing down concerns I actually remember them. There have been many unanswered prayers, yet I know the requests were laid before Him. The answered prayers are numerous too, which certainly builds my faith.
So grateful that when I feel burdened I can go to HIM and rest. Beautiful devotion this morning Kimberly thank you. First day of school for my daughter who is entering into the 8th grade.
I love the amazing freedom the Psalms give us to not censor or edit our prayers. The Psalmist accuses God of allowing them to be beaten and pushed back, even claims to be faithful while being abandoned. I tell my daughters all the time that they can bring their raw honest selves to God. If they’re angry, tell Him. If they think He made a mistake, tell Him. If they’re broken and without hope, tell Him. There is not an emotion or sentiment that scares God away when we come to Him with honesty. And He meets us there and redirects our thoughts to the truth of who He is and provides peace that surpasses understanding.
Thank you Melissa. Your advise to your daughters speaks straight to my heart!
I love how He recenters me in my conversations with him!
Prayer is difficult for me. I don’t know if any will understand this but I know God will take care of everything. I trust Him. I know Him. I have faith and believe He will always do what is best. Praying for something that I know will happen seems strange. Now, I will thank God and praise Him but I don’t formally pray except at church. God is calling me to have faith and believe His words about prayer and obey.
Kelly Chataine, We just finished a series at my church called Pray Like Jesus. It focused on the many times Jesus prayed
In the Bible to God. Our pastor spoke about how prayer is more of our relationship with God. He delights in hearing from us. It shows Him we are faithful to Him by praying. We should also use prayer time as a way to listen to God. Pray for Him to speak to you. I would encourage you to really delve into daily prayer.
Kelly, sounds like the words you wrote on here are a prayer to me! Sounds like something someone with a lot of deep yearning would say-a lot like King David! May Jesus open your eyes to see the ways He loves you so much and is already moving on your behalf. His spirit groans for you even if you never uttered another word. Blessings to you today!
God is able.
An appropriate reading as I am going in to talk to my midwife today about my anxiety. I am praying that the Lord will guide her to the right treatment plan for me. I know He is sovereign in all things and He cares for every one of my fears and worries.
Thank you SRT and Churchmouse. I’m feeling discouraged and overwhelmed with my job – but I can run to Him. He is my help, He is my strength. He Is.
Amy, I will be praying for you.
When I was a little girl, we would visit my grandparents lake house a couple times each summer, and we would have the privilege of hearing their summer pastor preach and pray. He didn’t close his eyes in prayer, and it was penetratingly beautiful. The congregation did, but, this little girl didn’t the first time and once I saw his eyes in prayer, I didn’t close them afterwards either. His eyes poured out love. Love to a little girl, looking around. Love for the bountiful gifts God provides (in that very humble, somewhat shoddy building – it was all about attitude). Love for the Father. He was not looking around to see who was watching. He was facetiming with God, and it was beautiful!
This morning as I remembered that humble, godly pastor, I thought about the gift of worshipful prayer we have been given. When this life’s journey ends and we live in heaven with God, we will be together – face to face, in constant communion with Him. We will not have need of prayer for we will be in His presence.
But, for now, as we dwell on this earth, God has given us prayer as an entrance into His presence. He is always with us. He knows us better than we know ourselves. While He deserves all the praise and honor that comes in worshipful prayer, He doesn’t need it. He. Knows. I. Do. He offers himself, this open door into His presence. This source of communion.
My Father. You never cease to amaze me. You draw me. Open me. Love me. May your name alone be praised. Thank you Lord.
Beautifully written ❤️
Thanks for sharing that
Ah prayer. How sweet it is. No matter the emotions I take to the throne of my Father, I am welcomed there, embraced by the One who made me. I worship Him in prayer, acknowledging Who He is. In return, He reminds me who I am. I am His beloved. I am His child. I am His friend. I am the apple of His eye. I am His chosen. I am holy. I am righteous. I am redeemed. I am forgiven. I am set free. I am delivered. I am restored. I am destined for eternity with Him. I am all these things and more. I may enter His throne room bowed in shame and sorrow for once again failing to obey Him. I may enter His throne room embarrassed for once again falling into habitual sin. I may enter His throne room sobbing in my grief and discontent and confusion. I may enter His throne room numb from stress and pressure, unsure if I can go on. Sometimes the emotions are just too much but I. Go. To. Him. The going is the worship. I take my eyes off me and turn them to Him Who is more than able. I collapse at His feet and He draws me near and lifts me up. He speaks softly and tenderly and imparts words of wisdom and strength and power. Sometimes He is silent and I am just held. He holds me until I can stand. He reminds me I am His, always. I worship Him when I go to Him in prayer and I worship Him as I leave. What else could I do? He is worthy. And I am the blessed child of the one true God.
This is beautiful and a devotional reading in itself. Thank you. I always look for your post.
Me too
❤️
❤️❤️❤️Thank you for your encouragement and speaking truth, Churchmouse. What a precious gift we have in prayer!
This beautifully spoken!! Amen and amen!!
Thank you Churchmouse. This was a blessing to me today.
I needed this. Thank you
❤️
Amen!
Amen ❤️
Oh how He loves me. I can’t even imagine how someone so great as God could love me. I’m so grateful that He does. And He listens when I pray. Thank you Lord for your unfailing love, even when You feel far off.
Amen
Seeing God for who He is has been a problem for me. I’m reading a book called: None like Him by Jen Wilkins. She is showing 10 ways God is different from us! That’s truth I need to really understand! As she states above, He knows everything about us, and He still loves us! Only He can change our hard hearts of stone. Amazing!