Abiding Prayer in the House of God

 

ABIDING IN PRAYER IN THE HOUSE OF GOD

This is the promise of Psalm 91 v 1 – 2:

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.  I will say to the Lord “You are my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust.”

Without exception, King David took all his woes and troubles to our Father God.  He was not shy in expressing his anxieties and his need of God to intervene in every area of his life, to ensure his protection, status, dynasty and success.

Psalm 91 is written to those who have made the same decision to ‘abide in God’ – to put God first in the driving seat of their lives.  To ‘dwell in the shelter of the Most High’ (v1) requires a decision to be made about where we choose to do our living and what we chose will influence the living of our lives.  To dwell, to live and to reside determines where we make our home and what we choose to fill our homes with.  We should choose to make our home in the presence of God.  In his presence He gives us shelter.  His shelter is a covering of divine protection, shaded from the fallout of the heat of adversity in the trials of life.  It does not mean that we do not go through challenges, but that our Father God takes the sting of the hurts so we can endure and press on in our walk with Him. 

Until you run into the place of God’s shelter, until you trust Him to be your shade, it is not possible to call Him your refuge and fortress, it is not possible to say that you trust God.  You make a decision in your heart, in your mind and in your soul, where to park the car of your faith.  Let it be in the House of the Lord.

This is what King David said in Psalm 122 v 1:

“I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord.”

In God’s house there is joy.  Today God’s house is the Church.  We are the Church – the living stones.  How much more should we have joy than those who rejoiced at the temple made of mere stones?

When Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey’s colt, in Luke 9, the people praised God saying:

“Blessing on the King who comes in the name of the Lord.  Peace in heaven and glory in the highest heavens.”

The Pharisees did not like this at all and demanded that Jesus rebuke the people.  In verse 19 Jesus said:

“If they kept quiet, the stones will cry out in praise.”

God inhabits the praises of His people.  As we dwell with Him, He comes and dwells with us.  Give Him the praise and honour that is due His Name and go to Him in prayer.

Within your home, Matthew 6 v 6 guides us in how to pray:

“But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut your door and pray to your Father who is in secret.  And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

Other translations write ‘go into your inner room’.

It matters to God that we choose to make the place where we live a ‘house of prayer’.  Make our Father God the Lord of your home.

When Jesus drove out the buyers and the sellers, and overturned the tables, He reminded them and the religious leaders what is written in Isaiah 56 v 7 about God’s dwelling place on earth:

“It is written”, he said to the, “My house will be called a house of prayer…”

Returning to Psalm 91, when we prayerfully choose to live in God’s presence He will generously bless us with His generous, favourable and bountiful blessings of the promises revealed in this Psalm:

His deliverance                   His covering             His faithfulness

His refuge                             His protection         His presence

His salvation                        His shielding             His guardianship

His confidence                    His uprightness       His answer

His vision                              His honour               His eternal life

I am sure as you read Psalm 91 you will meditate on other blessings within this Psalm that our Father God reveals to your spirit.

Amen xxx

 

PSALM 91

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High

will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say to the LORD, “You are my refuge and my fortress,

my God, in whom I trust.”

Surely He will deliver you

from the snare of the fowler,

and from the deadly plague.

He will cover you with His feathers;

under His wings you will find refuge;

His faithfulness is a shield and rampart.

You will not fear the terror of the night,

nor the arrow that flies by day,

nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,

nor the calamity that destroys at noon.

Though a thousand may fall at your side,

and ten thousand at your right hand,

no harm will come near you.

You will only see it with your eyes

and witness the punishment of the wicked.

Because you have made the LORD your dwelling—

my refuge, the Most High—

no evil will befall you,

no plague will approach your tent.

For He will command His angels concerning you

to guard you in all your ways.

They will lift you up in their hands,

so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.b

You will tread on the lion and cobra;

you will trample the young lion and serpent.

 “Because he loves Me, I will deliver him;

because he knows My name, I will protect him.

When he calls out to Me,

I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble.

I will deliver him and honour him.

With long life I will satisfy him

and show him My salvation.”

 

(Berean Study Bible)