LORD, Teach Us To Pray

 Temple Baptist Church - 9-21-2025

Psalm 86

 

A.  “A Prayer of David” is the only key to understanding what this Psalm is about. The Bible, which is the Word of God, provides us with a pattern of prayer. I believe that our prayer life should include specific aspects that, although they are to be repeated often, are not merely vain repetitions as the Lord alluded to in the Sermon on the Mount.

 

Matthew 6:7  But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

 

B.  This is a simple Davidic! It provides a personal glimpse into the prayer closet of this great man of God. A king who had everything knew that everything came from God. 

 

1.  I think that this is essential to the prayer life of each of us.  The Book of James teaches us that every good and perfect gift comes from the Father of Lights, how has no variableness nor shadow of turning. 

 

James 1:17  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

 

2.  As the moon shows us only its lighted side, God has no dark side, so He is the Father of Lights to us. God also does not vary “one degree” as is alluded to in “shadow of turning.”

 

3.  God only gives us good things.

 

C.  In the New Testament, our Lord Jesus Christ taught His disciples to pray, which the world calls “The Lord’s Prayer.”  It is not “The Lord’s Prayer,” as that is taught in John chapter 17, but rather “The Model Prayer.”  The Lord established for His disciples a pattern of praying that is good to follow. 

 

Luke 11:1  And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.

 

D.  King David gave no specifics about the time of life when he prayed this prayer or the circumstances surrounding it, only that he was communing with God.

 

E.  Here is a brief outline that I believe is key to both this prayer and Psalm, and should also be central to our prayers.

 

1.  O LORD, Hear Me!  Verse 1.  “Bow down thine ear, O Lord, hear me: for I am poor and needy.” 

 

David was a poor, needy man, though the greatest, most powerful King that ever lived.  Here, we find no pride in this man after God’s own heart!

 

2.  O LORD, Preserve My Soul!  Verse 2.  “Preserve my soul; for I am holy: O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee.” 

 

David was doing his best to be right with God and trusting Him with the affairs of life.

 

3.  O LORD, Be Merciful To Me!  Verse 3.  “Be merciful unto me, O Lord: for I cry unto thee daily” 

 

David understood that cleansing came through daily confession of sinfulness.

 

4.  O LORD, Rejoice My Soul!  Verse 4.  “Rejoice the soul of thy servant: for unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul” 

 

David understood the spiritual wealth of rejoicing always.  Mind over matter!

 

5.  O LORD, Forgive Me!  Verse 5.  “For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee” 

 

David was well acquainted with the weakness of his flesh (weights and sins that so easily beset each of us.  Confession, repentance, and restoration in righteousness are a way of life for the believer.

 

6.  O LORD, Be Not Silent!  Verses 6-7.  “Give ear, O Lord, unto my prayer; and attend to the voice of my supplications. In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answer me.” 

 

I think it is right to ask God to answer prayers. We have not because we ask not, therefore, we ask and must receive.   Jeremiah 33:3

 

7.  O LORD, Allow Me To Praise Thee!  Verses 8-10.  “Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord; neither are there any works like unto thy works. All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name. For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God alone.”

Let everything that hath breath, praise the LORD!  Quit praising, quit breathing!

 

8.  O LORD, Teach Me!  Verses 11-12.  “Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.  I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore.”

 

Please help me to be a learner before I become a teacher.  Here we find a continual search for the truths of God openly hidden in the Bible.

 

9.  O LORD, Be Merciful To Me!  Verses 13-15.  “For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.  O God, the proud are risen against me, and the assemblies of violent men have sought after my soul; and have not set thee before them.  But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.”

 

I need Thee every hour, most precious LORD!  Help me to see myself in the light of God’s Word and in honesty confess and forsake the sin in my life.

 

10.  O LORD, Turn Me!  Verse 16.  “O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me; give thy strength unto thy servant, and save the son of thine handmaid.”

 

Wilt thou no revive ME again and again and again.

 

11.  O LORD, Shew Me!  Verse 17.  “Shew me a token for good; that they which hate me may see it, and be ashamed: because thou, LORD, hast holpen me, and comforted me.”

 

LORD, I know your love for me but show me your love for me.