Psalm 5

“My voice shalt Thou hear in the morning, O LORD;
in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee, and will look up.”
Psalm 5:3 (KJV)

Each day this week, we will focus on a different Psalm from the Book of Psalms as we learn to practice the disciplines of a changed heart.  This weekend at church, we discovered the heart of real change is an exchanged life. It is Christ in me! That is a transformational change. Religion focuses on conforming us to some prescribed manmade rules or traditions, but Biblical faith focuses on an intimate and personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, who comes to take up residence in our lives, transforming us from the inside out. When someone receives Christ, they receive new life, a spiritual life! They are born again, born from above, born of the Spirit!  The bible says that old ways of living pass away and all things become new! 

A great description of this kind of changed heart is seen in the life of David in the Bible.  In Acts 13:22 (MSG), the Bible says, “… I’ve searched the land and found David, son of Jesse. He’s a man whose heart beats to My heart, a man who will do what I tell Him.”  Do you have such a heart? One that beats to the rhythm of God’s heart. If you’ve trusted Christ as your Savior and Lord, He has given you a new heart, a heart aligned with God’s heart. To stay in rhythm, we must daily cultivate the disciplines of a changed heart.  What are they? Look back at David’s life, for example, in Psalm 5. I love verse 3 in this Psalm. It reveals the secret to staying in rhythm with God’s heart.  David said, “My voice shalt Thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee, and will look up.”

Take a few moments to read through and meditate on this entire chapter in Psalm 5. It reveals the secret of a close relationship with God. David began each morning in prayer. In the morning, before your day becomes crowded and distracted, direct your mind's attention and your heart’s affection to God. When you pray like that, you can look up!  You’re not looking down, overwhelmed by your problems, but looking up to the problem solver.  The New Living Translation puts it like this, “…Each morning I will bring my requests to You and wait expectantly.”  What a description of faith!  As you meditate on Psalm 5 today, practice the discipline of a changed heart – direct your prayer to God and look up as you wait expectantly for Him to answer! 

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To read this devotional online or catch up on past ones, visit https://kerryshook.org/blog.

Another important part of your daily devotional is spending time with God in prayer. The Woodlands Church Prayer Board lists prayer requests submitted by our members and provides a way to send them some encouragement by using a button on the page to let them know that you prayed for them. Whether you use the Prayer Board, or pray from your heart, the goal is to build the habit of incorporating prayer into your quiet time.

Need prayer yourself? Let us know by submitting a prayer request on the Woodlands Church Prayer Board.