This is a foundational truth in the NT (Rom 4:3; Gal 3:6; Jas 2:23:). As such Abraham is the “father of all them that believe,” Rom 4:11).
Read Psalm 142. This is a prayer of David when he was overwhelmed and desperate. “I cry out to the Lord with my voice; with my voice to the Lord I make my supplication. 2: I pour out my complaint before Him; I declare before Him my trouble,” (Ps 142:1,2).
“I cry out to the Lord with my voice.” This psalm comes from one who is deeply troubled and overwhelmed by a desperate situation. Although the Psalmist is experiencing loneliness without any supporting human companionship or sympathy, the Lord still remains his refuge, friend and helper. When believers are afflicted and oppressed, rather than remaining silent, they should cry out to God, who has pledged Himself to be our comforter and helper in time of need (see John 14:16-26; 2 Cor 1:4-5). Jesus is “a Friend of tax collectors and sinners,” (Jn 7:34) who lived changed lives.
Read Luke 7:34,35 – 35: But wisdom is justified by all her children (Lk 7:35).
Wisdom’s children were the followers of Jesus and John. These followers lived changed lives. Their righteous living demonstrated the wisdom that Jesus and John taught.
• Formalism Can Spoil Prayers
Formalism is a strong or excessive emphasis on outward appearance or form instead of content or meaning. This may occur with liturgical prayers when prayer is merely a formal exercise and no attention is paid to the meaning of the words. We cannot fool God. Read 1 Sam 16:1-13.
“For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart,” (1Sam 16:7).
We Might Fool Ourselves
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? 10: I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings,” (Jer 17:9,10).
“The heart is deceitful.” The heart is the inner being of a person and includes one’s desires, feeling and thoughts. Above all, it is desperately evil and corrupt; as a result people turn to selfishness and evil rather than to God’s way of righteousness. The corrupt human heart is beyond cure and cannot be changed by itself.
The only remedy is to experience God’s grace, be born again through faith in Christ and receive a new heart —one that hates evil and delights in doing God’s will (cf. 24:7; Ezek 11:19-20; Mat 5:8).
We can be formal in prayer without prayer becoming formalism. The Book of Psalm is a veritable source of formal prayers.
Read Psalm 62:1-12. “Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. Selah,” (Ps 62:8).
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