My Resume is Bad, But it Doesn't Have to Stay That Way

Below is a sermon on Psalm 86 I created and delivered this month as part of my Biblical Exposition course. If it interests you:

When I speak at an English Teachers Conference, I usually begin with a little background information about myself to gain credibility with the audience. I want them to trust me with what I’m saying, so essentially I give them my resume: a couple of Masters Degrees, National Board Certification, experience in wide range of schools, settings, and classrooms, etc. That doesn’t necessarily qualify me to know what I’m talking about, but it certainly increases the odds in the minds of many in the audience.

This sermon, however, is not about effective writing strategies about literature. Instead the topic is prayer. The “resume” for my prayer life looks a little something like this:

Doesn’t necessarily induce confidence, does it? I have existed in my faith journey under a cloud of mystery regarding prayer. I have occasionally prayed big, but more often faltered in the size of my faith. I have had prayer strategies, only to let them die. I’ve read constantly about prayer, trying to get a handle on what’s real, what’s superstition, and why the God of the universe needs me to tell him what to do; and I’ve accumulated files and files of notes from these texts, all of them filling my head but not necessarily my heart. I have been humbled by answered prayer, but often lacked the will to ask. And I feel like a failure, every time I crawl back. Every time I sit at my keyboard and notice that the last date in my file is weeks, or months ago, my spirit drops. No, my resume, my best efforts, in no way make me an expert in this field.

However, we do have the book of Psalms, and David, to show us examples of prayer. It is there we look today to find direction and purpose for our prayers.

READ PSALM 86

For people like me who struggle with prayer, Psalm 86 provides an excellent starting place and model to follow. We can confidently pray as David prayed.

First, if we are to pray as David prayed, we must properly establish God’s position and our reason for praying to Him alone. David spends a lot of time in this prayer telling God who God is. This isn’t for God. God isn’t suffering an identity crisis and needs to David to snap him back to reality. No, David establishes who God is in his prayer to remind himself who He is praying to.

And who is he praying to? First of all, he is praying to the Sovereign God of the universe. He is praying to the One who is in control.

• “There is none like you among the gods, O Lord / nor are there any works like yours.”
• “All the nations you have made shall come / and worship before you, O Lord.”
• “For you are great and do wondrous things; / you alone are God.”

Obviously, you say. Of course. But it’s not so obvious. Or at least our actions don’t say that it is. For most of us, we daily attempt to wrestle control away from God, or at least assume the weight and responsibility for that control. We behave as if the well-being of the universe hangs in the balance of every choice, every word, every action, and every minute of our day. For most of us, we need this reminder.

Second, he is praying to a loving God. This Sovereign God over all, the one who spoke the stars and planets into being, who controls the wind and waves with a breath, the orchestrator of this beautiful redemptive history that we get to take part of, loves David, loves me, and loves you individually.

• “For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, / abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.
• “In the day of my trouble I call upon you, / for you answer me.”
• “For great is your steadfast love toward me; / you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.”
• “But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, / slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.”

What is interesting about these beautiful exclamations of the love of God for David is the repetition of the word “for.” In this case, “for” means “because.” “For” is answering the question of “why?” Why am I praying? Why am I relying on God? Why am I on my knees first and acting 2nd? What’s the point? Isn’t this a hopeless situation? God isn’t asking these questions. David is. Again, this aspect of the prayer, while it brings great glory to God, also serves the purpose of getting David’s heart right. We often need that reminder as well.

Third, David spends time establishing God’s track record. This loving God has always been loving. He’s been steadfast in his care for David. David’s personal story and the storyline of the Bible is account after account after account of God’s faithfulness.

• “In the day of my trouble I call upon you, / for you answer me.”
• “For you are great and do wondrous things; / you alone are God.”

The Bible abounds with commands to retell events to future generations or to have celebrations or festivals traditions in order to remember God’s goodness over the course of all history. The Passover feast. “This do in remembrance of me.” God has answered David’s cries in the past. God has answered his people’s cries in the past. In David’s prayer, the identity of the one who is being prayed to is clear. And so is the worthiness of the act.

I encourage you, like David, to speak of who God is and what he’s done for you.

A second dominant aspect of this prayer is David establishing his own position in this relationship. Again, this is not necessarily for God. God didn’t forget David. God has the hairs on David’s head numbered. God knit together David. God knows the depths of the evils and sin in David’s heart, because he sent his son to die and put the weight of those sins on him. Once again, it is David who needs reminded of where he stands.

And where does David stand in the presence of this Sovereign, loving, faithful God? Lowly and desperate. Helpless. In need of what only God can provide.

• “for I am poor and needy.” (v. 1)
• “for to you do I cry all the day.” (v. 3)
• “for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.” (4)
• “In the day of my trouble I call upon you. . .” (7)
• “O God, insolent men have risen up against me; / a band of ruthless men seeks my life, / and they do not set you before them.”

This is a perpetual state. David needs God. He is the crier. David, this great slayer of Goliath, this powerful king, this man after God’s own heart, is a beggar. He is the petitioner. He is the one lacking, the one who cannot overcome on his own. And so are you and I.

When my girls are scared of something, I ask them this question, “Whose job is it to protect you?” It’s mine. When students have a problem or a question, I want them to come to me. I have had former players come to me seeking advice about a range of issues. When something is wrong, people come to me. I fix it. Recognizing my own helplessness does not come naturally to me. It feels weak. It flies against the spirit of success, of overcoming, of the American Dream. I need desperately to put myself in this place through prayer; because if I don’t, I fear that I will continue to delude myself into false confidence that I surely have no right to. And I suspect some of you are in the exact same boat.

Paul Miller, in his book The Praying Life, has this to say: “If you are not praying, then you are quietly confident that time, money, and talent are all you need in life.” What do your prayers, or lack thereof, say about what you believe about yourself and your life?

If we are to pray as David prayed, we must come face to face with the truth that many of us try to ignore: God is God, and we are not.

Now we can get to “asking for stuff.” It’s a subject that’s often puzzled me. What is “prayer-worthy”? Should I pray for success in my career? Should I pray for health? Should I pray for comfort or protection? Should I pray for this person to like me, or that person to notice me? Shouldn’t I just say, “Thy will be done” and be over with it?

Here’s what David does: his requests center on furthering what he’s already established in this prayer: God is God.

First, David makes a request that shows God has the power, not David:

• “Incline your ear, O LORD, and answer me”
• “Preserve my life. . . / save your servant, who trusts in you - you are my God.
• “be gracious to me, O Lord”

It can be easy to read this and on first glance see David as some sort of petulant child demanding attention. Listen to me! Answer me! Be good to me! It’s like mornings at the Dykstra household with our children. But that’s what it’s supposed to look like - children coming to their Father persistently.

“Which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:7-11)

David also comes to God asking for what only he can provide. David’s requests show that God alone is the source of all good things.

• He is the source of all joy
• “Gladden the soul of your servant” (v. 4)
• He is the source of all wisdom
• “Teach me your way, O LORD / that I may walk in your truth” (v. 11)
• He is the source of real strength
• “Turn to me and be gracious to me; give your strength to your servant” (v. 16)

David recognizes that if he wants joy, wisdom, and strength (and he should), there is only one place to get them. He doesn't request possessions or situations or relationships that he thinks will bring these to him; he goes straight to the source.

Finally, David makes a request that ultimately brings glory to God:

• “Show me a sign of your favor / that those who hate me may see and be put to shame /  because you, LORD, have helped me and comforted me.”

• “Teach me your way, O LORD, / that I may walk in your truth / unite my heart to fear your name. I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, / and I will glorify your name forever.”

David’s end game is not personal glory, personal comfort, or personal success. He wants what he wants so that he can walk more faithfully, view God with more awe and respect, and walk with a heart full of gratitude and praise. Whatever you ask of God, if you are asking for these reasons, your prayer is God-honoring and heart-changing. You are in a position to receive answered prayer.

Are you unsure of how to pray? Of what to pray? Of why to pray? Then follow David’s example. This week, one day at a time, speak to God of how good and mighty and powerful He is. Speak of what he’s done for you. Describe your needs. Put your circumstances in perspective. Exalt God. Fill your prayer with those thoughts, and your heart will be filled with them as well.

A favorite author of mine, Oswald Chambers, wrote this in the early 20th Century about prayer:

Prayer is the battle, and it makes no difference where you are. However God may engineer your circumstances, your duty is to pray. . . Wherever God has placed you and whatever your circumstances, you should pray, continually offering up prayers to Him. . . Yet we refuse to pray unless it thrills or excites us, which is the most intense form of spiritual selfishness.

There is nothing thrilling about a laboring person’s work, but it is the laboring person who makes the ideas of the genius possible. And it is the laboring saint who makes the ideas of his Master possible. When you labor at prayer, from God’s perspective there are always results.

Perhaps your prayer resume looks a lot like mine. That’s okay. It’s just not okay for your resume to end there. The battle that Chambers writes about must continue. When we are most disappointed with ourselves and our prayer, we are most ready to humble ourselves as David did. Pray. Use David’s example. There will be results.