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In the middle of David’s distress, he calls to the Lord. We don’t get much of a description of David’s prayer, but we do get a vivid and beautiful description of God’s response to prayer in verses 8-16. The earth trembles (v.8), the heavens shake (v.8), the atmosphere changes (v.10), God moves on the wings of the wind (v.11), bolts of lightning come from heaven (v. 12), the Lord roars over the earth (v.14), and war is waged from heaven (v.15). All of this is directly in response to David’s prayer! Writing under the direction of the Spirit of God, David is trying to give us a picture of what happens in the unseen realm when we pray. God is moving in power in response to the prayers of His people, and we should be deeply encouraged by this! Can you imagine how different our prayers would be if we believed this? I think we would have no trouble at all obeying the command of the New Testament, “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:16).

For many people, prayer is the last resort rather than their first reaction. They first try to solve the problem themselves, then seek the help and resources of others. Only once all those options have been exhausted do they turn to the Lord. I can think of times in my life where I have done exactly that, and I grieve for how much I missed out on because of it. I am reminded of the words of that precious hymn, which reflects, “O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, All because we do not carry Everything to God in prayer!”

For Today: Set a few reminders on your calendar to stop and pray for the thing that is troubling you most deeply. 

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