Praying for Discernment and Sensitivity in Biblical Application
Prayer is a direct address to God, an intercourse of the soul with the divine [6]. It is commanded in scripture, with passages like Isaiah 55:6 and Matthew 7:7 urging believers to seek God [7]. Biblical application often requires discernment and sensitivity, which can be sought through prayer.
The Psalms frequently illustrate prayers for divine teaching and direction. For instance, Psalm 143:10 states, "Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground" [1]. Similarly, Psalm 27:11 asks, "Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies" [1]. These passages highlight a desire for God's guidance in understanding and applying His will. The Psalmist also prays, "Search me, God, and know my heart. Try me, and know my thoughts" [3], indicating a deep desire for self-examination and divine insight.
Prayers for discernment are often intertwined with pleas for mercy and understanding in times of distress. Psalm 31:9, "Have mercy on me, Yahweh, for I am in distress. My eye, my soul, and my body waste away with grief," exemplifies a cry for divine compassion during affliction [4]. Such prayers acknowledge human weakness and reliance on God's lovingkindness [10]. John Gill, in his commentary on Psalm 119:145, notes that prayer should be offered "according to the lovingkindness of God," rather than human merit, emphasizing God's mercy as an encouragement for faith in prayer [10].
The act of prayer itself is described in various ways in scripture, including "bowing the knees" (Ephesians 3:14), "lifting up the soul" (Psalm 25:1), and "pouring out the heart" (Psalm 62:8) [7]. Daniel, for example, "set his face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications" [11]. This demonstrates a deliberate and earnest approach to seeking God's will. Solomon, too, showed sensitivity to human suffering in his prayers, appealing to God's knowledge of individual motives and pleading for instruction so that failures might lead to following God's ways [13].
Diligence is required in seeking God and obeying Him, which includes guarding against defilement and striving for perfection [8]. This diligence extends to prayer, as seen in the call to pray for those who are afflicted [2]. The compassion of Christ, who sympathizes with the tempted and afflicted, serves as an encouragement to prayer [5, 9]. Ministers, too, rely on the prayers of the people for their ministry to be effective [14]. The earnestness of prayer, as seen in the Psalmist crying out daily, is a duty of saints and is effective with God [12].
Sources
- Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Affliction, Prayer Under — Exhortation to -- Jas 5:13. That God would consider our trouble -- 2Ki 19:16; Ne 9:32; Ps 9:13; La 5:1. For the presence and support of God -- Ps 10:1; 102:2. That the Holy Spirit may not be withdrawn -- Ps 51:11. For divine comfort -- Ps 4:6; 119:76. For mitigation of troubles -- Ps 39:12,13. For deliverance -- Ps 25:17,22; 39:10; Isa 64:9-12; Jer 17:14. For pardon and deliverance from sin -- Ps 39:8; 51:1; 79:8. That we may be turned to God -- Ps 80:7; 85:4-6; Jer 31:18. For divine teaching and direction -- Job 34:32; Ps 27:11; 143:10. Fo”
- Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Afflicted, Duty Toward The — To pray for them -- Ac 12:5; Php 1:16,19; Jas 5:14-16. To sympathise with them -- Ro 12:15; Ga 6:2. To pity them -- Job 6:14. To bear them in mind -- Heb 13:3. To visit them -- Jas 1:27. To comfort them -- Job 16:5; 29:25; 2Co 1:4; 1Th 4:18. To relieve them -- Job 31:19,20; Isa 58:10; Php 4:14; 1Ti 5:10. To protect them -- Ps 82:3; Pr 22:22; 31:5.”
- Psalms “Search me, God, and know my heart. Try me, and know my thoughts. -- Psalms 139:23”
- Psalms “Have mercy on me, Yahweh, for I am in distress. My eye, my soul, and my body waste away with grief. -- Psalms 31:9”
- Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Compassion and Sympathy of Christ, The — Necessary to his priestly office -- Heb 5:2,7. Manifested for the Weary and heavy-laden. -- Mt 11:28-30. Weak in faith. -- Isa 40:11; 42:3; Mt 12:20. Tempted. -- Heb 2:18. Afflicted. -- Lu 7:13; Joh 11:33,35. Diseased. -- Mt 14:14; Mr 1:41. Poor. -- Mr 8:2. Perishing sinners. -- Mt 9:36; Lu 19:41; Joh 3:16. An encouragement to prayer -- Heb 4:15.”
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Prayer — Is converse with God; the intercourse of the soul with God, not in contemplation or meditation, but in direct address to him. Prayer may be oral or mental, occasional or constant, ejaculatory or formal. It is a "beseeching the Lord" (Ex. 32:11); "pouring out the soul before the Lord" (1 Sam. 1:15); "praying and crying to heaven" (2 Chr. 32:20); "seeking unto God and making supplication" (Job 8:5); "drawing near to God" (Ps. 73:28); "bowing the knees" (Eph. 3:14). Prayer presupposes a belief in the personality of God, his ability and willingness to hold inter”
- Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Prayer — Commanded -- Isa 55:6; Mt 7:7; Php 4:6. To be offered To God. -- Ps 5:2; Mt 4:10. To Christ. -- Lu 23:42; Ac 7:59. To the Holy Spirit. -- 2Th 3:5. Through Christ. -- Eph 2:18; Heb 10:19. God hears -- Ps 10:17; 65:2. God answers -- Ps 99:6; Isa 58:9. Is described as Bowing the knees. -- Eph 3:14. Looking up. -- Ps 5:3. Lifting up the soul. -- Ps 25:1. Lifting up the heart. -- La 3:41. Pouring out the heart. -- Ps 62:8. Pouring out the soul. -- 1Sa 1:15. Calling upon the name of the Lord. -- Ge 12:8; Ps 116:4; Ac 22:16. Crying to God. -- Ps 27:7; 34:6. Drawing”
- Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Diligence — Christ, an example -- Mr 1:35; Lu 2:49. Required by God in Seeking him. -- 1Ch 22:19; Heb 11:6. Obeying him. -- De 6:17; 11:13. Hearkening to him. -- Isa 55:2. Striving after perfection. -- Php 3:13,14. Cultivating Christian graces. -- 2Pe 1:5. Keeping the souls. -- De 4:9. Keeping the heart. -- Pr 4:23. Labours of love. -- Heb 6:10-12. Following every good work. -- 1Ti 5:10. Guarding against defilement. -- Heb 12:15. Seeking to be found spotless. -- 2Pe 3:14. Making our call, &c, sure. -- 2Pe 1:10. Self-examination. -- Ps 77:6. Lawful business. -- Pr 27:”
- Hebrews (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Hebrews 4:15: For--the motive to "holding our profession" (Heb 4:14), namely the sympathy and help we may expect from our High Priest. Though "great" (Heb 4:14), He is not above caring for us; nay, as being in all points one with us as to manhood, sin only excepted, He sympathizes with us in every temptation. Though exalted to the highest heavens, He has changed His place, not His nature and office in relation to us, His condition, but not His affection. Compare Mat 26:38, "watch with me": showing His desire in the days of His flesh for the sympathy of those whom H”
- Psalms (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Psalms 119:145: Hear my voice according unto thy lovingkindness,.... Not according to his own merits and deserts, or works of righteousness done by him, for the sake of which he did not present his supplications to God; nor according to his love to him, which often waxed cold, and he in a poor lukewarm frame of spirit; but according to the lovingkindness of God, which is always the same, and which is a great encouragement to faith and hope in prayer; that since God is gracious and merciful, kind and bountiful, plenteous in mercy, and ready to forgive, on a throne of grace, and ful”
- Daniel (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Daniel 9:3: And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications,.... He set apart some time on purpose for this service, distinct from his usual stated times of prayer, as well as from his civil business and employment; and he not only set his face toward Jerusalem, as he used to do, Dan 6:10, the more to affect his mind with the desolations the city and temple lay in; but towards the Lord God, the sovereign Lord of all, who does according to his will in heaven and in earth, the Governor of the universe, the one true God, Father, Son, and Spirit: and this deno”
- Psalms (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Psalms 86:3: Be merciful unto me, O Lord,.... In my distressed and miserable condition, being an object of mercy, pity, and compassion; this petition is used by Christ in Psa 41:10. for I cry unto thee daily; or "all the day"; every day, and several times in a day, Psa 55:17 constant and importunate prayer is the duty of saints, and available with God, Th1 5:17. Christ was much in the exercise of it, Luk 6:12.”
- 2 Chronicles (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on 2 Chronicles 6:28: 6:28-31 Petition 4: Solomon showed a special sensitivity to human suffering by including both the private sorrow of those whose pain is hidden and the public distress of those whose pain is apparent. The prayer is personal, appealing to God’s knowledge of each individual motive. A further appeal pleads for God’s instruction so that the pain of failure might lead the individual to follow God’s ways in the future.”
- Hebrews (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Hebrews 13:18: Here, I. The apostle recommends himself, and his fellow-sufferers, to the prayers of the Hebrew believers (Heb 13:18): "Pray for us; for me and Timothy" (mentioned Heb 13:23), "and for all those of us who labour in the ministry of the gospel." 1. This is one part of the duty which people owe to their ministers. Ministers need the prayers of the people; and the more earnestly the people pray for their ministers the more benefit they may expect to reap from their ministry. They should pray that God would teach those who are to teach them, that he would make them v”