Pray … beginning and ending with praise

Habakkuk 3:1-4, 17-19

¹ This prayer was sung by the prophet Habakkuk:

² I have heard all about you, Lord.
I am filled with awe by your amazing works.
In this time of our deep need,
help us again as you did in years gone by.
And in your anger,
remember your mercy.

³ I see God moving across the deserts from Edom,
the Holy One coming from Mount Paran.
His brilliant splendor fills the heavens,
and the earth is filled with his praise.
⁴ His coming is as brilliant as the sunrise.
Rays of light flash from his hands,
where his awesome power is hidden.

…

¹⁷ Even though the fig trees have no blossoms,
and there are no grapes on the vines;
even though the olive crop fails,
and the fields lie empty and barren;
even though the flocks die in the fields,
and the cattle barns are empty,
¹⁸ yet I will rejoice in the Lord!
I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!
¹⁹ The Sovereign Lord is my strength!
He makes me as surefooted as a deer,
able to tread upon the heights.

I love verses 17-19!  Habakkuk has been lamenting the leadership of his nation and the pain that the people experience.

He then makes one of the most statements of faith in God that I know of in the Bible in Habakkuk 3:17-19

I am drawn to the last line – “the Sovereign Lord is my source of strength”.

 What is going wrong in your life – for here Habakkuk lists a number of things that went badly for him and the nation.  He does not shy away from calling them out – he faces the pain, the disappointment, the grief.  Yet he doesn’t stay there – he chooses to lift his eyes to the Lord.  This is the power of this prayer.  Prayer is only rightly prayer when we focus on God and allow His perspective to fill ours.  Prayer is not a whinge to God and leave it there – I have commonly whinged to God – but I have learnt to pray – to call upon the Lord, the Sovereign Lord to fill me in my grief, disappointment and pain with faith, hope and love!

Are you today praying or whinging?  Are you speaking out in faith – “the Sovereign Lord is my source of strength”.

 Father help each of us to pray with the note of faith – with humility, reality and trust!

 Written by Ps. Richard Botta