Week 1 Spiritual Breakthroughs With The Psalms
November 4, 2009 by Cath
Filed under Passionate Prayer QT Experience Blog ~ Catherine Martin
What a week of study we have had in Week 1 of Passionate Prayer - A Quiet Time Experience. The title of this week was Praying With The Psalmists. What I didn’t count on as I studied this week was that sometimes when you pray with another person you may experience an amazing spiritual breakthrough. That’s what happened with me this week. I’ve studied and lived in the Psalms for about a guzillion years! 
And my favorite writer of psalms is, hands down, David, the man after God’s own heart. This week the Lord showed me something incredible about David. I saw it while studying in Day 2 of Week 1. I read Psalm 19:14 where David called the Lord, “my Rock and my Redeemer,” then I stopped and thought, “How personal the Lord was to David. He wasn’t simply a Rock, but my Rock, my Redeemer.” And then, my eyes were opened to something new and powerful. David, the shepherd boy who became king, was extremely needy and dependent on God. He always carried with him a sense of helplessness and inadequacy. No wonder he often said, when he drew near to God, “But who am I?” I believe this is what made him such a man after God’s own heart. He was so utterly dependent on God that he could know Him intimately. He knew God as his Rock, for he knew his need for stability and security and found God to be the Rock, a sure foundation. He knew God as His Redeemer, for he knew his need of redemption and salvation, and found God to be the One who redeems and saves.
Discovering this amazing basic truth about David shows me that I need to cultivate a sense of need, dependence, and even helplessness, for then I will run to God and rely on Him. And when I do, I will find Him to be utterly reliable, a help and refuge in time of need, and a strong and mighty deliverer. This truth is so diametrically opposed to what we learn in the world. You’ve got to get stronger and stronger, not weaker and weaker, at least in the world. But in God’s economy, the weaker you are the stronger you become in the Lord. That’s why Paul said, “Most gladly therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). So take heart, if you feel inadequate for the task, and in need of help. Your need drives you to a new dependence on your God. He loves those who trust in Him. And remember, TRUST is total reliance under stress and trial.
Oh what discoveries David made about God. I loved these words in Psalm 18:1-2 in The Message:
I love you, God–you make me strong.
God is bedrock under my feet,
the castle in which I live,
my rescuing knight.
My God–the high crag where I run for dear life,
hiding behind the boulders,
safe in the granite hideout.
What did God teach you this week in the study? Did you have one of those amazing spiritual breakthroughs? Was there a verse that just touched your heart? Or a favorite quote? Feel free to share your insights in the Comments here on this blog and also at the Passionate Prayer - Quiet Time Experience section at the Quiet Time Cafe.
Enjoy your study in Week 2, Prayer When You Want To Adore God.
Blessings to everyone as you draw near to God in His Word. And God bless you as you continue on in the great adventure of knowing Him.
Catherine, God is moving in wonderful ways as you study His Word, spend quality time with the Psalms, and sit with the LORD. Being okay with “a sense of need, dependence, and even helplessness” is truly opposite of the way our world operates, as you say. It is in this state that we become less and He becomes more in us. John is speaking of Christ and himself, each of us: “He must increase, but I must decrease.” John 3:30 Oh, how we must.
I have had a wonderful insight during this first week, having journaled it on the Quiet Time Cafe’s website. I would like to be so bold as to place the QT Cafe’s address of this week one’s sharing: http://www.quiettimecafe.com/index.php?showtopic=363
May God shower His blessings upon each and every one of us this week as we study His Word.
Thanks for the encouragement, Linda, as we all study God’s Word together. Just had a great morning with our class at the church. Can’t wait to study Week 2 all about praise and adoration in the Psalms. I wonder what the Lord will teach us from His Word this week. That’s always an amazing, exciting anticipation - sitting at the feet of the Lord and opening His Word and hearing Him speak. Happy studying to all who draw near to the Lord this week.