Her Faith Thrives

November in the US is a month buzzing with thoughts and ideas on gratitude. I have enjoyed practicing intentional thankfulness as a lifestyle for a few years, but this year I have wrestled with how to have a heart that is supremely thankful for God for His own sake not just for His gifts. I began to notice I could easily name things I was thankful for but the practice did not offset deep seated discontentment. Can you relate?

It is entirely possible to be thankful and complain at the same time. It is also possible to be thankful and desperately discouraged but it shouldn’t be. Some thing is missing from our practice of gratitude and indeed our understanding, when engaging thankfully with our Creator can coexist with discontentment.

Well, on Sunday, my pastor preached on Psalm 63 and God made the problem clear. Through a vibrant and truth-filled sermon (which I highly recommend you listen to), the Holy Spirit drew my attention to the fact that I did not actually believe that God could satisfy me in this season without changing my circumstances.

If you have struggled with discontentment and related discouragement you know, the weight of this kind of realization can be crushing because it feels impossible to change. But God is kind, as we walked through Psalm 63, He spoke through my pastor and laid out a path for change empowered by the Holy Spirit but requiring obedience. I will let you listen to that powerful sermon here. What I want to share with you is a prayer that I wrote inspired by Psalm 63 and the truths my pastor drew out.

God has used prayers other people have written to convict, encourage and instruct me. Through these truth filled prayers, He often exposes my heart and sends me back to His word. My prayer is as you reflect on the prayer below, God would use it in your life to move your heart toward a desire of Him that surpasses everything else. My hope is this all consuming desire for God makes us both truly thankful without any lurking discontentment bridging the gap between cultivating a grateful heart and practicing contentment.

A Prayer for Satisfaction in the Lord

O God you are my God,

Earnestly I seek you, my soul longs for you¹

More than respite from my current troubles.

More than the end of the

Tumultuous emotions they bring.  

Yet, despite my need to be satisfied by you,

I confess I often want comfort and relief

More than I want you.

Please forgive me. 

As I bring this prayer before you,

Change my heart.

Help me desire you more than

Physical relief from ongoing weakness.

Help me be supremely satisfied in you.

Help me not just settle

For your presence and goodness,

Because I cannot change

My circumstances.²

I have come into your presence

When I was frightened and anxious,

And you were with me.

When my heart was overcome by apathy,

You sustained me.

When my health was failing,

You preserved and restored me.

I have seen your power, your goodness,

And your loving kindness.

I have had the privilege

Of gathering with your people,

To be reminded of your sovereignty,

Comfort, and the hope we have in you.

Your steadfast love is better than life,³

Better than the health I long for,

Better than the peace I desire,

Better than greater ease in marriage,

Better than less messy parenting,

Better than any guarantee of fulfillment,

Better than the stability I long for.

Your steadfast love amidst my longing

Is better than the fulfillment of it.

Indeed, it is better than life.

So, I praise you!

I praise you for accomplishing

Such a great salvation,

That enables me to stand before you,

Free from guilt and shame,

With the power to fight and overcome sin,

With the privilege to commune with you

Both personally and corporately. 

I praise you because your steadfast love

Reaches into my deepest darkness,

And is not extinguished.⁴

It reaches into my bewilderment,

And it is not diminished.

It reaches into my turmoil,

And is not overcome.

I praise you because even if

Nothing changes in my circumstances,

You are not dependent on anything

External to satisfy my internal needs.  

Your presence is enough.

You are God, the Creator,

Who spoke into a void world,

And brought forth life and goodness.⁵

You are Emmanuel, who came down

And addressed the void in our hearts.⁶

Through Christ’s intercession⁷

And the Holy Spirit’s ministry,⁸

You continue to bring life and goodness

Despite the constant presence of

Brokenness around us and within us.

You are worthy of praise.

I can sing for joy because

You are my refuge and have always been.

I have grown weary and even fainted,

But you have increased my strength.⁹

When my heart and my flesh failed,

You have been the strength of my heart

And my portion.

You have taken hold of my right hand,

And you will continue to lead me to glory.¹⁰

By the power of God,

I will overcome these trials

That threaten to overwhelm me.

I will sing a song of victory

In the midst of them,

Because they cannot suppress

Your goodness.

I will sing a song of triumph over them,

Because you are attentive

To my cries for help.

You will break their power over me,

Like bonds that burst open

At the sound of your voice.¹¹

You will have the last word

For your glory and my good

And all who see it will rejoice in you.

Those who hear it from afar

Will hope in you. 

You will strengthen many hearts

Because you will show yourself strong.

Many will join me

And proclaim that

Your loving kindness is better than life.

Footnotes: 1. Psalm 63:1 2. Sermon: Desiring God by Cody Petree 3. Psalm 63:3 4. Psalm 139:11 5. Genesis 1:1, 2, 31 6. Ephesians 2:1-7 7. Romans 8:34 8. Romans 8:26-27 9. Isaiah 40:29-31 10. Psalm 73:23,24,26 11. Psalm 107, Psalm 29

Tips for Further Reflection:

• Use this prayer as a springboard to pray through specific concerns in your life and ask God to help you find your ultimate satisfaction in Him.
• This prayer follows the structure and style of Psalm 63. Read Psalm 63 for yourself and let the Lord use it to help you pray through your current season.
• Listen to the sermon by my pastor: Desiring God by Cody Petree
• If the Lord used any part of this prayer to minister to you, look up the corresponding scriptures captured in the footnotes.

For Further Encouragement

Were you encouraged by this blog post? I would love to connect with you on our special Her Faith Thrives Newsletter which goes out every other month.  In each newsletter, I share a short reflection about how I’m growing in my faith during this season of life. Plus, I’ll be sending you some fantastic resources to inspire and guide you on your own faith journey. When you subscribe, you will receive my all-time favorite tool for making your Daily Quiet Time truly meaningful. It’s called “From Routine to Reverence: 3 Simple Steps to a Deeper Daily Quiet Time.” I can’t wait to hear how it helps you deepen your time in God’s Word.