By Julian Wells

“In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation. … I will praise the Lord who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me. … I will declare your name to my brothers; in the congregation I will praise you. … Show me your ways O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.” (Psalm 5:2, 16:7-8, 22:22, 25:4-5 NIV)

Thumbing through the psalms of David this morning and reviewing the verses I have highlighted in my Bible through the years, I was reminded why God called David a man after his own heart. (Acts 13:22)

Though David was far from perfect, he was genuine in his devotion to God, fervent in prayer and praise, dependent on God’s direction along the paths of his life, and committed to proclaiming his name in psalms that would comfort, encourage, instruct, and guide generations to come.

Lord, give me a heart like David’s – a heart that hungers for your Word and thirsts for your presence; a heart that earnestly seeks the guidance of your Spirit as I navigate the paths before me; a heart that yearns to proclaim your Name to a world in such desperate need of you.

“If we read the Word and do not pray, we may become puffed up with knowledge, without the love that buildeth up. If we pray without reading the Word, we shall be ignorant of the mind and will of God, and become mystical and fanatical, and liable to be blown about by every wind of doctrine.” ~ D.L. Moody, Prevailing Prayer