I Am Prayer

𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗵𝘂𝗿𝘁.  Especially words spoken against you by a friend.  They cut deep and can become a festering wound.  When I was young, if someone was being mean we used to chant the phrase; “𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘮𝘦!”  But the fact of the matter is – that simply isn’t true.   Words that are spoken have great power, the bible tells us the power of life or death!  (Prov 18:21)

Powerful King David, the man after God’s own heart, wasn’t immune to the wounding of words from those he considered friends.  Psalm 109:4-5 tells us this, “𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒆; 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆.   𝑰𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒚 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒎𝒆, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓.”    David felt surrounded by words of hatred, attacked for no apparent reason, accused, maligned, and criticized.  Sound familiar?  He was hurt and his soul was downcast.  No-one would have blamed him if he had risen up and retaliated in kind.  I am amazed at David’s response – “𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓.”

“𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓!”  David took it to the LORD in prayer.  Even when they attack me and accuse me, I will pray.  Even when they shout words of hatred at me, talk about me behind my back, I will pray.  Even when they lie about me, slander my name, or smear my name, I will pray.  I am a man of prayer.  I for one can certainly learn something from David as so often I react immediately instead of taking the time to pray and asking the LORD what my response should be.

The Hebrew meaning behind David’s phrase, “𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓,” is interesting.  Translated it becomes, ‘𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓.”  David’s whole life was characterized by prayer, it was that important to him.  Charles Spurgeon puts it this way, “𝘏𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺.  𝘏𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦.”  David became prayer as they became hatred, he became prayer as they became discontent.

And so, the question becomes, which do we want to be?  We have to choose.  We can choose to become people of prayer or people that are marked by the unkind words we say, by the gossip that we speak.  In my heart of hearts, I want to be prayer but today is a good day to take stock of the things I say, to consider my actions and reactions, and to remember to take everything to God in prayer.