Delivered from Our Prayers

by Linda Veath

My brain shut off in the worship service as we were reading Psalm 34 responsively. Instead of reading Verse 4 as “God delivered me from all my fears,” I read — out loud, of course — that “God delivered me from all my prayers.” Well, oops.

But then, a thought popped into my brain that maybe there are times when God needs to deliver us from our prayers. We let our emotions get away from us and ask for things we want but don’t really need — things that might even harm us. We get impatient and pray that something be done now. We want healing from an illness while God is looking at the ultimate and best, healing which comes in heaven.

God loves hearing us pray to Him, no matter the words we use. In fact, He commands us to pray to Him. And, He loves answering those prayers — in His perfect way and in His perfect time. However, sometimes, He needs to “deliver” us from the mis-spoken words and requests we make, especially those that harm our relationship with Him.

God used my mis-spoken word that Sunday to teach me about praying to Him, reminding me to be thankful for our prayer-hearing God, the God Who not only delivers us from our mis-spoken requests but delivers us from sin through the death, burial, and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ. Amen.