prayer life

Oh Lord, Please Be Patient With Me

Bruce Okkema

by Bruce Okkema

Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. – I Corinthians 13:4-7

If we had to compartmentalize our lives, it would be very difficult. It would be nearly impossible to separate joy, pain, suffering, love, work, study, our gifts, our relationships and so on. All of this makes us very complex, multi-faceted images of our creator. We have many of his attributes, yet none of them stands completely on its own. As each of them become prominent, sometimes we shine brightly and sometimes we don’t.

Our prayer life is like that too and can be very complicated. We are not always clearly tuned in to God and we don’t always pray the way we should. So when we are in tune, we need to ask God to be patient with us for those times when we are not.

Prayer is a lot like love, and with respect to our relationship with God, it stems from love. It seems fitting to think of it in view of 1 Corinthians 13. With some poetic leniency, a beautiful picture of how prayer can be results if you substitute the word “prayer” for the word “love” in its verses.

Prayer is patient, prayer is kind, prayer is not jealous, prayer does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

I think if we pray with this attitude, even when we are not quite in tune, God will have patience with us and listen to our hearts. He will take our inadequate words and transform them into a sound sweet and pleasing to his ears.

Praying the Psalms

Mary Okkema

by Mary Okkema

Bless the LORD, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits; Psalms 103:1-2

When life is a challenge and we don’t know how to pray we can turn to the Psalms for the words that fail us. You can start by reminding yourself who God is and think about His wonderful attributes.

Drink in these words from Psalms 103:

In the opening verses, we are reminded of the many ways we benefit by His presence everyday: “Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits”.

What is it that you need today? Are you feeling like you need forgiveness before you start the day? … “who forgives all your sins” … or maybe you are encountering an illness because of unconfessed sin, “and heals all your diseases.” (“When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.” Psalms 32:3)

Perhaps you have been dealing with depression, “who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,” Do you need some encouragement? Verse 5 says, “who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”

Having compassion for others is a challenge we often face as well. We can learn from the example in verse 13:”As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him”.

The words of verse 19 remind us who is in charge, “The LORD has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all.”

So even when we don’t know how to pray, we find that by turning to the Psalms, we can be guided, encouraged, and blessed by the words of those who have gone before us. Can we help but join with them and all creation by saying:

Praise the LORD, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word. Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will. Praise the LORD, all his works everywhere in his dominion. Praise the LORD, O my soul.

Indeed, how great is His love! “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him!” Blessed be the Name of the Lord!

Photo by Patrick Fore on Unsplash