January 24, 2025 Devo

I was talking with someone recently about praying dangerous prayers. We decided that one of those was asking God for patience. Bad, bad idea. When we ask for patience, we think God is just going to zap us, and we’ll suddenly have calm, quiet hearts that are no longer easily angered or irritated. But, as most of us have discovered, it doesn’t work that way! God develops patience by allowing us to face and deal with people and situations that will DEVELOP that patience. Who wants to develop it?! We want to simply be divinely infused with it!
David’s prayer in our passage today is another dangerous prayer. He feels as if he’s being unfairly treated and doesn’t deserve the hardships, persecutions, and struggles he’s going through. David gets so caught up in his emotions that he tells God that if he has done any wrong in any of this, then let him be punished to the full extent of justice. He says, “Let my enemies capture me. Let them trample me into the ground and drag my honor in the dust.” That, my friends, is a dangerous prayer.
Think this through with me for just a moment. Do any of us REALLY want to be treated as we deserve? Are any of us so free from fault or failure that we truly want God to give us exactly what we’re owed? Have you ever gone to your boss or company owner and said, “You know, I realized that I sometimes do things on company time that aren’t company-related, so please just pay me for the time I was actually working and not my full paycheck.” My guess is that not many of us have had those kinds of conversations lately. That’s because we don’t want justice. Most of us want mercy. That’s because most of us NEED some mercy.
I get that David was trying to prove a point and his prayer was a cry of being overwhelmed by injustice. I also know that we sometimes pray dangerous prayers from an arrogant heart. As I sat with this passage for a bit, I knew this was a prayer I didn’t want to pray. I don’t want to receive the full justice of God. I want and need His Grace. I don’t want to receive payback for the worst moments in my life. I want forgiveness and a second chance. I, for one, am grateful for the incredible mercy of God and hope He never decides to give me all I deserve. Oh yeah, and I’ll never again ask God for patience! That’s God’s Word for you today.