David's Prayer Psalm 86 The Message

^1-7 Bend an ear, God; answer me.
    I’m one miserable wretch!
Keep me safe—haven’t I lived a good life?
    Help your servant—I’m depending on you!
You’re my God; have mercy on me.
    I count on you from morning to night.
Give your servant a happy life;
    I put myself in your hands!
You’re well-known as good and forgiving,
    bighearted to all who ask for help.
Pay attention, God, to my prayer;
    bend down and listen to my cry for help.
Every time I’m in trouble I call on you,
    confident that you’ll answer.

^8-10 There’s no one quite like you among the gods, O Lord,
    and nothing to compare with your works.
All the nations you made are on their way,
    ready to give honor to you, O Lord,
Ready to put your beauty on display,
    parading your greatness,
And the great things you do—
    God, you’re the one, there’s no one but you!

^11-17 Train me, God, to walk straight;
    then I’ll follow your true path.
Put me together, one heart and mind;
    then, undivided, I’ll worship in joyful fear.
From the bottom of my heart I thank you, dear Lord;
    I’ve never kept secret what you’re up to.
You’ve always been great toward me—what love!
    You snatched me from the brink of disaster!
God, these bullies have reared their heads!
    A gang of thugs is after me—
    and they don’t care a thing about you.
But you, O God, are both tender and kind,
    not easily angered, immense in love,
    and you never, never quit.
So look me in the eye and show kindness,
    give your servant the strength to go on,
    save your dear, dear child!
Make a show of how much you love me
    so the bullies who hate me will stand there slack-jawed,
As you, God, gently and powerfully
    put me back on my feet.

As I read this I thought just how it should be; no NEEDS to be our prayer.  

Do you want to know God's Will?

1 Thessalonians 5:16 - 18 (NLT) ¹⁶Always be joyful.  ¹⁷Never stop praying.  ¹⁸Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. 
Here is God's will for those who belong to Jesus the Christ.  We are to be always Joyful; always Prayerful and always Thankful.

Always joyful; this is a hard one for me.  I do not like mornings!  I work the opening in Fast Food business (we open at 6a.m.!).  Some people say "Good Morning" at they come to the Drive Through window; about half the time my responce is "Well it is morning!"  I sometimes say "Morning" as I reach out to take their payment.  Some folks look t me weird, some of it is me I am a bit weird but I think some hear the word "good" without me saying it and wonder, like I do, "just how good is it!"  I usually respond to the look with say something like "I did not place a value judgement on it!"  God has shown me and is still working on me that I need to be joyful always!!

Always Prayerful, sometimes we think of prayer as when we "talk" to God.  You know "Here's Bread, Here's Meat!  Good Lord let's eat!  Amen!"  Prayer really is a conversation we have with God.  If one is having a conversation both people in said conversation take turns speaking.  Therefore being Always Prayerful, involves our speaking to God but it also involves our listening to God speak to us.  That may be as we drive the car to work; as we sit listening to others speak in a meeting or gathering; it may be sitting in the  deer woods,  like a friend of mine taught me;(miss those times with that friend!!) or taking a walking to shed unwant pounds.  The thing is we must listen as well as talk.  I once heard some one say we needed to listen twice as much as we spoke because we have ONE MOUTH and TWO EARS.  While as a person drawn to public speaking (or in this case public writting) I am not sure I buy that idea; I do know that we, the followers of Jesus, need to do more listening at times than we actually do!!  Again, remember that a preacher speaks as much to the preacher (sometimes more) than the preacher does to the congregation!

Always Thankful, I have written on this on Novemeber 23, so I will says that I like how  the Message says it "1 Thessalonians 5:18 (TMSG) ¹⁸thank God no matter what happens." Again easier said than done!!

Do you want God's Will?  BE Always joyful, Always Prayerful and  Always Thankful!