My Morning Prayer: Petitions and Praise

My Morning Prayer: Petitions and Praise
-Roy Lessin, Meeting in the Meadow

Some time ago a friend of mine shared this thought with me... 

“The Scriptures we use for our petitions are also the Scriptures we can use for our praise.” 

There is great wisdom and helpful insight in this thought.

Petitions based upon the Word of God are important for us to pray. We must cry out to the Lord in times of need and difficulty.

This poor man cried out, and the LORD heard him, And saved him out of all his troubles (Psalm 34:6 NLT).

In difficult times, we can find the Scriptures to be the source of our petitions as we cry out to God for help. Psalm 121 can be an example of this. 

1I look up to the mountains—

does my help come from there?

2My help comes from the LORD,

who made heaven and earth!

3He will not let you stumble;

the one who watches over you will not slumber.

4Indeed, he who watches over Israel

never slumbers or sleeps.

5The LORD himself watches over you!

The LORD stands beside you as your protective shade.

6The sun will not harm you by day,

nor the moon at night.

7The LORD keeps you from all harm

and watches over your life.

8The LORD keeps watch over you as you come and go,

both now and forever.

In this Psalm God assures us of the following:

Our help comes from Him.
He will not allow our foot to slip.
He will keep us.
He will not slumber or sleep as He watches over us day and night.
He will protect us from all evil.
He will keep our soul.
He will guard our coming in and going out.
 
Basing your petition upon this Psalm our prayer can be:
 
Lord, I cry out to You for help. You have promised You will keep me from falling. Watch over me day and night. God, protect me from all evil and keep my soul. Guard me wherever I go and keep Your hand upon me. In Jesus' Name, amen.

 
In times of need and difficulty it is important for us to not only offer to God our petitions, but to also offer to Him our prayers of praise.  It can be difficult for us to find things to praise God for while we are going through difficult circumstances, but we can take the Scripture of our petition and use it as our praise.
 
Here is how you can use Psalm 121 as your prayer of praise:
 
Lord, thank You for being my help in this difficulty. I praise You for watching over my life and for keeping me from falling. Thank You that You never take Your eye off of me, that You protect me from all evil, and that You are the keeper of my soul. Thank You for the comfort I find in knowing You are guarding me wherever I go. In Jesus' name, amen.
 
May the Lord help you to turn your prayers of petition into prayers of praise!

#prayer #mymorningprayer #prayingthepsalms #praisingthepsalms #psalm121 #roylessin #meetinginthemeadow

©2024 Roy Lessin, Meeting in the Meadow. Photo by Marina Bromley. Used with permission, all rights reserved.