Confident Prayer

I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress.

— Psalm 59:16

We know him as King David, but when David was a young man, he was a political exile running for his life. King Saul, long filled with jealously over David’s popularity, had decided to get rid of the threat to the throne. Saul ordered his guards to go to David’s home so he could be killed in the morning. But David was tipped off, and he fled in the night (1 Samuel 19:11-17).

Psalm 59 reveals David’s prayer as he ran. As most of us would do, David began that prayer with a plea for help and protection. He begged God to take care of those who wish him harm.

But what’s truly remarkable about David’s prayer is that he didn’t stay there. David spends the last part of the prayer simply praising God for a rescue that was yet to come. By the end of the prayer, David had confidence that God would rescue him. Note the words again: “I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning” (Psalm 59:16). When the sun rose on that dreadful night, David knew he would be on his knees thanking God for deliverance.

We often fill our prayers with pleas for help, especially during a dark night, and it’s good to do so. After all, 1 Peter 5:7 tells us to cast all our cares on God because He cares for us. But David’s prayer challenges us to take our prayers to the next level by confidently thanking God for answering our pleas before we say, “Amen.”

Today’s One Thing

When you give God your greatest need, confidently anticipate His answer to your prayer, and thank Him in advance for His deliverance.

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