Urgent prayer
“O God, hasten to deliver me; O LORD, hasten to my help! … But I am afflicted and needy; Hasten to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer; O LORD, do not delay” (Psalms 70:1, 5).
On TV news this Thursday, I heard of the death of a famous American singer Michael Jackson. When I heard the news that he died in his 50’s, I was wondering how he died so suddenly. So when I read the news, I saw that it was reported that he had died of “cardiac arrest” (heart attack). According to an internet article, this cardiac arrest is mysterious and the public killer disease kills 200,000 to 300,000 people every year in the United States. According to the news from one cardiologist, if you have this cardiac arrest, you will die if you don’t apply an electric shock to the heart within 10 minutes. However, it will usually take 10 more minutes for the ambulance to arrive by calling 911 after seeing the symptoms of this heart attack. Therefore, it is said that there is not much chance of living with this disease. What a terrible disease. When I heard this news, I remembered my friend's father. The story I heard from my friend was that his father suffered from a heart attack in his wife's arms, and an ambulance came, but it was late. While listening to that story from my friend even indirectly through my friend's mouth, I think about how desperate and impatient my heart would be if I was in such an urgent situation. With such an urgent heart, I ask myself whether there is a prayer topic that is urgent to me.
In Psalms 70:1, 5, the word “hasten” appears three times. We can see that the psalmist David made an urgent request to God. He prayed earnestly to God three times over and over again. David offered a very urgent prayer that he couldn’t wait any longer to God. So, what was David's urgent prayer topic? His urgent prayer topics was “hasten to deliver me”, “hasten to my help” (v. 1), “Hasten to me” (v. 5). Why did David say this urgent prayer to God? The reason was those who sought David's life (v. 2). They were those who delighted in David's hurt (v. 2). David suffered from them and was also needy (v. 5). So he made an urgent prayer to God. He prayed urgently to God with faith, knowing that God is “my help and my deliverer” (v. 5). With this faith, David ended his prayer, “O Lord, do not delay,” while longing for God's help and deliverance (v. 5).
Like David, we must pray urgently to God in an urgent situation, longing for God's help and deliverance (salvation). We need to feel little deeper the need for urgent prayer. To pray leisurely and in relax in spite of an urgent situation is to commit the sin of negligence before God (Jer. 48:10). Realizing that there is not much time left to love, I want to offer an urgent prayer to God, ‘Help me to love others with Your love.’ Realizing the importance or urgency of saving souls, I want to give an urgent prayer to God. I pray that God will use us day by day to provide comfort and help those who are in urgent situations.
I want to ask God who quickly help me as I feel the need for urgent prayer,
James Kim
(As I see myself praying so passively and lazy)