When This Kind of Thinking Creeps into Your Prayer Life

[The wicked] says in his heart, “God has forgotten, he has hidden his face, he will never see it.” PSALM 10:11There’s a fascinating turn in this psalm. At the beginning, David prays: “Why, O LORD, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself?” God, you seem so far way, so remote, so uninvolved. You don’t seem to be doing anything at all!But at some point in the psalm it dawns on David: That’s what the wicked believe! David says: “Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” (10:1). The wicked say: “He has hidden his face, he will never see it” (10:11). David realises, I’m discrediting God, and that’s precisely what the wicked do!It’s as if David says to himself, Wait a minute... I’m saying the same thing as the wicked! Something happens to David, and it happens to him as he is praying. He finds help. Strength and faith come to him as he prays.The turning point of the psalm is when David wakes up to what is happening in his own soul: “The wicked discount God. That’s what I have been doing and that’s why I have become so discouraged! David, stop thinking like the wicked!” Has this kind of thinking begun to creep into your prayer life? If so, take yourself in hand and tell yourself to stop thinking like the wicked.Written by Colin SmithRead by Sue McLeish www.openthebible.org.uk