Declare what He has done...

The text for today is Psalm 66:16-20..."Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul. (17) I cried unto him with my mouth, and he was extolled with my tongue. (18) If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me : (19) But verily God hath heard me ; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer. (20) Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me."

First off, we see David excited to share what God is doing in his life. Hmm, sounds like something we should all be doing, right? Anyway, he talks about how he cried to the Lord with his mouth (aloud, not silent) and He was extolled with his tongue. I don;t know about you, but I had to pull out the dictionary for that one, just to make sure I was grasping it correctly. Extol means to praise highly or glorify. So, simply stated, the Lord was glorified by David's prayer...When we pray do we glorify God with our cries? If others heard our petitions, would they see God glorified, or just see a Christian asking for more? I am not saying we can't and shouldn't ask God for things, but our prayer should bring Him praise!!!

Verse 18 gives us a bit of a wake-up call..."If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me". To me, this speaks of our secret or hidden sins...is there really such a thing? (NO) If we are holding on to sin in our lives, the Lord won't hear our prayers. This makes it that much more important to cry out to God when we sin, rather than waiting...

Obviously, David confessed regularly because the Lord heard him, listened to his prayers, and was merciful upon him.

Do you feel like your prayers are not getting above the ceiling? not getting answered? Does it feel like His mercy is turned from you? Glorify God in your prayers, confess and let go of sin in your life, and turn from them...God will attend to the voice of your prayers...and will not turn His mercy from you.

When you do these things, you will be sharing with others what God has done for you with excitement!!!

Please let me know if there is a prayer I can word on your behalf today...