Today’s Reading: Psalm 74

1 O God, why do you cast us off forever? Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture? 2 Remember your congregation, which you acquired long ago, which you redeemed to be the tribe of your heritage. Remember Mount Zion, where you came to dwell.
Psalm 74:1-2

The Psalms teach us how to pray. 

Here, we see an important dynamic of prayer: questioning and remembrance. The people call on God to remember them, be mindful of promises of the past and how God provided in the past. Do not forget, God! 

They pray this prayer after questioning God. This interplay of bringing doubts before God and then calling on God to remember happens frequently within the Psalms. They say, “why, God?” and then say, “don’t forget! Remember!”

We can do the same in our prayer lives. When facing doubts, questions, wonderings, we should follow the example of our forebears in the faith: bring those to God. Why, God? What are you doing? What in the world? Why am I going through this? How are you moving? Remember me! Remember the promises you made to me! 

I highly recommend reading the entire Psalm here. They recount their experience to God and then call on God to remember the covenant. Such is a model for our prayer during times of trouble.

Think
Where do you have doubts, questions, wonderings, today?

Pray
Bring those doubts to God in prayer and then call on God to remember you and remember God’s promises to you. 

Do
Write out this prayer today, trying prayer journaling.

Think, Pray, Do. As we respond in faith to scripture, God moves in power through our minds, hearts, and bodies. We are the people of God. Thanks for reading today. Go in peace. Amen.

Think, Pray, Do devotionals by Ted Goshorn follow the suggested bible reading plan from his website and book, Prayer Changes Us. Find this Bible reading plan at tedgoshorn.org/biblereading. If you have found today’s devotion helpful, don’t forget to subscribe for daily emails at tedgoshorn.org and share with others that we may think, pray, and do faithfully.