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Transcript

Journaling And Honest Prayer

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Hello and welcome to Five Minutes in the Word. I'm Rami Cooksey. Are you a journaler? Do you journal or keep a diary? I wish I did. I've tried several times and I don't usually stay with it very long. But it's in that journal or diary where people tend to be able to express their true and deepest feelings. Well, that's one of the things I love so much about the Psalms and the Bible. King David, who wrote most of them, and the other psalmists as well, are very honest with God as they express the true deep feelings of their heart. And

Psalm 25 Read Aloud

SPEAKER_00 0:41

we see this in today's passage, Psalm chapter twenty five, verses one through five. King David is in trouble, but he turns to God in prayer and says, To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. O my God, in you I trust. Do not let me be ashamed. Do not let my enemies exalt over me. Indeed, none of those who wait for you will be ashamed. Those who deal treacherously without cause will be ashamed. Make me know your ways, O Lord. Teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me. For you are the God of my salvation. For you I wait all the day. Well,

Lifting Up Your Soul To God

SPEAKER_00 1:21

here's David, and he turns this first phrase is so beautiful to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. You've ever been working on something and you just can't get it right with maybe it's a project with your hands, and you turn to someone nearby that you think will do a better job, and you give it to them. Here, can you do this? This is what David is doing. He's saying, I can't manage my own soul. I'm overwhelmed. And so, Lord, I'm lifting up my soul to you spiritually, and saying, Lord, can you manage and lead and care for my soul?

Trusting God While Asking For Help

SPEAKER_00 2:00

And then we see, as we often see in the prayers of God's people in Scripture, this twofold dynamic where on the one hand, he's praying and telling God the things that he believes about God, which builds his faith as he prays. He's also asking God for things that really are obvious. He knows that God does these things, but it's still good to pray and to ask God these things and to just lay it all out before him. Oh my God, he says, in you I trust. Do not let me be ashamed. Well, God's not going to let him be ashamed, but that's still where he's at in his head, in his soul at that moment. It feels like he's worried about that. And so it's okay to ask God for these things as we're simultaneously expressing our trust in him. And don't let my enemies exalt over me. And then he's reminding himself out loud to God. As a matter of fact, those who trust in you and wait for you won't be ashamed. It's those who deal treacherously without cause who will be ashamed. Now, our

Waiting For The Lord With Focus

SPEAKER_00 3:09

ultimate enemy is not other people, it's the devil who's working at times through people. But we take it to God. And twice in these five verses he talks about waiting for the Lord. Now we think of that as a passive word, but no, not at all. The waiting is to be pursuing God. He is casting all of his future on God and saying, If you don't come through, I'm sunk because I'm following you, and that's how this pr predicament has come about. But then

Learning Even From Unfair Criticism

SPEAKER_00 3:42

in the middle of that prayer to God, he is reminding himself, he's not perfect yet. He's not without sin. Even though in the grand scheme of what's happening, he may be in the right, he knows that he still has imperfections in his following of the Lord. So he prays, Make me know your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths, lead me in your truth, and teach me. Sometimes people are unfair to us, and I try in those moments when there's an unfair criticism, an inaccurate criticism, to still look for the negative truth. Is there something even in this inaccuracy, even though this person's heart may not be right toward me and toward God, is there something in this from which I can learn? God will bless you when you do that. And so God, I trust in you. Keep teaching me even in this moment of desperation. And again, he ends, for you are the God of my salvation. For you, I wait all the day long. And I

Waiting Like A Restaurant Waiter

SPEAKER_00 4:46

was a waiter in three different restaurants back in my college days. And as a good waiter, you're keeping an eye on that customer, looking to see what they're doing, what do they need, what's happening at that table? And it's bad when the customer has to come looking for the waiter. You're not doing a job of waiting. And so this is this picture. God, my eyes are on you. I'm waiting for you. You are the source, the hope, the strength.

Bring Your Situation To God

SPEAKER_00 5:15

Is there a situation in your life today about which you've been forgetting to turn to God and to lay it all out? Be honest with him, and then let that experience of praying to God remind you that yes, he will watch over you in his way, in his timing. Be encouraged. God loves you more than you could ever imagine or think. God bless you. I'll see you back here next time.