"O Lord, all my longing is before you; my sighing is not hidden from you."
I had thought for a long while that it was more noble and honoring to God to ask of God one time. And then believe that it was answered. To ask God repeatedly was a sign of unbelief. To broach the topic more than once was an indication of impatience. I have since changed my thinking.
Although repeating a request or raising the same issue can stem from an unbelieving heart it does not necessarily mean this. In fact, to NOT bring up the topic may be a sign of pride or self-sufficiency. We are commanded to pour out our hearts before the Lord (Ps 62:8).
Think of it this way. If we do not confess to the Lord the longing of our hearts then to whom will we go? We are going to go somewhere or to something or to someone. At stake is the goodness and honor of God. Either we think God is not good or is unable to help us and thus we remain silent. But only for a short while ... if we do not present our longings to God we will seek satisfaction elsewhere. We were wired for this. If we starve ourselves of good food it will not be long before we break down and gorge ourselves on junk. If we do not find God as our all satisfying solution then we will seek out alternative answers. This is a deadly sin, pride masquerading as humility.
God is honored when we come to him every time we are needy, because the giver gets the glory! When we approach God with the longings of our heart we are saying to him, "You alone can satisfy. I look to nothing else but you." Therefore, we must present all our longings before Him and hide not our sighings. He alone can satisfy. He gets the glory; we get the joy.
O Lord, satisfy me this morning with your steadfast love that I may rejoice and be glad today. Lord you know the longings of my heart. You know my sighing. Be my help. For you, O Lord, do I wait. Answer me quickly lest I be like those who go down to the pit. Hide not your face from me. Be gracious to me and bless me and make your face to shine upon me, that your way may be known on earth and your saving power among all nations.
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