Prayer Guide: Day 19

“O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head.” Psalms 139: 1-5

When I first moved to Dallas, GA, to work at West Ridge Church, I came for the job, but I knew no one! I knew the job was right, and God was working behind the scenes, but I had no community. I was devastated that I wasn’t known here in my new city. I went through a period where I felt incredibly lonely, and it was easy for me to question God as to why He brought me here and away from everything and everyone I loved, away from all things comfortable.

In this Psalm of David, we see God the All-Knowing God who not only knows everything He knows us, His children. There is something about being known, feeling like we are seen, and knowing we are valued. It can be easy to have the desire to find that in others more than recognizing that we have a God, a loving Father who knows us. He knows every single part of us, sees us, and created us. The same God that conquered the grave, knows me, and I have access to Him.

God allowed me to have a season where all I had was Him. He needed me to long for Him, run to Him, and find all I truly needed in Him. In the process, I recognized that I was known by a good and faithful father who knew what He was doing when he moved me to West Ridge Church. I leaned on Him like never before; I cried out to Him like He was all I had; I indeed had a friend in Jesus.

These scriptures encourage me, and I need them desperately, a reminder that I am known, “You know my thoughts even when I’m far away” (Psalms 139:2 NLT). In Tony Evans’s study bible, he says, “David contemplates the staggering omniscience of God. Not only does the Lord know everything about the universe, he has also searched and known his servant. God knows every last detail about you, too.”

This chapter in Psalms 139 ends by saying, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”(Psalms 139:23-23). Recognizing that, yes, we are known, but a bold prayer that we want to have an accurate understanding of ourselves too so that we can repent and ask forgiveness, we invite God in. We get to trust Him and obey Him and say, “God lead us forward. You know me; your way is best, and I want more of you!”

Personal Prayer Focus 

Pray that God would ignite something in you that would make you hungry for the scriptures. It is here that we begin to know God; in this place, we have a greater understanding of how well he knows us, loves us, and all he wants for us.

WRC Prayer Focus 

Today let’s pray as a family that we will be in one accord, completely unified in our mission and vision! Pray that we seek ways to serve and edify the body in all we think, say, and do. In the words of Martyn Lloyd Jones, “In essentials, have unity; in non-essentials, have liberty; in all things, have charity!”