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There are times in our lives where all we can really pray are what I call "prayer mantras."
These prayers consist of just a handful of words and yet are some of the deepest and heartfelt prayers one can utter.
I am not talking about prayers like "Bless me" or "Help."
Those are prayers in their own right, don't get me wrong, and I truly believe that the Holy Spirit does just as the Scriptures say as He intercedes for us when we pray these prayers with groans that words cannot express (Romans 8:26).
But the prayers that I am talking about today are a few words that pack a wealth of Scripture into them. When you utter these words, in effect, you are recalling to mind a specific passage of Scripture and asking the Lord to honor His Word in a mighty and specific way.
Take one that I have been praying for a few weeks now, found in Hosea chapter ten.
Visit this passage with me for a moment...
"Sow for yourselves righteousness;
reap steadfast love;
break up your fallow ground,
for it is the time to seek the Lord,
that he may come and rain righteousness upon you." --Hosea 10:12
So recently, my prayer mantra has been, "Rain righteousness upon this house, Lord."
In those few words, I am communicating to God that I am tired of the ungrateful hearts of my children. The whining. My sharp words in response to the whining. The tantrums. The fights of strong wills. The "No!!"s when I ask my children to put away their clothes, take a bath, brush their teeth. The slammed doors. The tears. And have I mentioned the whining?
We need regenerated hearts in this family. We need the love of Christ in our words and in our tone of voice. We need patience. We need peace. In short, we need the righteousness of God to drench our hard and dry souls. We need Him to break up the hard and fallow soil of our hearts. We need help to seek Him. And we can't manufacture any of that in ourselves. Even as a believer, I must rely on the work of the Holy Spirit to soften and sanctify my heart, just as I must trust Him to bring about the gift of repentance in my children, saved and unsaved.
What I want to say is: Lord, come and soak us to the bone with your Spirit. Drive your life-giving nourishment deep into our souls. We thirst. We hurt. We ache. We are weary and tired. We need you above all things.
Instead, all I can do is utter my prayer mantra: Rain your righteousness on us.
And He knows. He understands and He hears. And as sure as in all the Scritpures, when God hears, He is sure to act.
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