Faith Alone - September 2, 2012
Sunday, September 2, 2012 at 08:01AM 
PRAYNG FOR GOD'S MERCY
Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
Psalm 51:1
We naturally think, "I'm frightened by the sight of God, so I can't look to heaven for help. I know that I'm a sinner and that God hates sin. How can I pray?" With these thoughts, an intense battle begins inside us. Because we know we are sinners, we may think we have to postpone praying until we feel worthy. Or we look for other people to assure us that we have done enough good works to have confidence in our own worthiness. Only then do we pray, "God, have mercy on me." But we were born in sin. If we had to wait until we felt pure and free from all sin before we prayed, we would never pray.
We must shake off these kinds of unchristian thoughts. When surrounded by our own sinfulness -- even while drowning in our sins -- we should cry out to God, just David did in this psalm. Then we won't have to postpone our prayer. What purpose do the words "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love" serve if the only people who pray them are pure and don't need any mercy? No matter how sinful we feel, we must encourage ourselves to cry out to God, "Have mercy!"
I have learned from my own experienc that praying is often the most difficult thing to do. I don't hold myself up as a master of prayer. In fact, I admit that I have often said these words coldly, "God, have mercy on me." I prayed that way because I was worried about my own unworthiness. Yet ultimately the Holy Spirit convinced me, "No matter how you feel, you must pray!" God wants us to pray, and he wants to hear our prayers -- not because we are worthy, but because he is merciful.
Faith Alone
Reader Comments (3)
"God wants us to pray, and he wants to hear our prayers -- not because we are worthy, but because he is merciful."
Oh I love that sentence!
This was one of my favourites so far.
I was reading Psalm 51 earlier this week. It is such a blessing and encouragement for all of us. I far to often need to cry out "Create in me a clean heart, oh Lord." I'm so thankful for His mercy and grace.