“To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.”
(Psalm 25:1 ESV)
What Is Prayer?
In this small portion of Scripture, we overhear the beginning of a prayer. We also learn something about prayer.
Prayer, by definition, is lifting our souls to God. That might sound a little old fashioned—let’s rephrase. Prayer is bringing our whole self before God.
What Do We Bring to God in Prayer?
Look back at the short prayer in Psalm 25:1. What does the person praying bring to God? What does he have in his arms to present to God? Himself. This is a very important point, let me try and help you see why.
When I pray, I’m prone to heaping up all sorts of pretense. I want to come to God with the right words in the right way. Do you ever think like that too? Do you ever wonder how God wants you to pray?
In a plethora of places, the Lord welcomes us to pray with raw honesty (Psalm 62:8). Friend, if you have put your trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins, he has brought you near to God and you don’t have to fear God’s disdain anymore. You may approach God’s throne of grace with confidence and boldness (Hebrews 4:16), as a beloved child of your heavenly Father.
The Right Way to Pray
The psalmist in the beginning of his prayer in Psalm 25 tells us the right way to pray: Lift up your soul to God—your soul, in whatever state you are in with whatever is on your mind. Come to God as you are, not as you wish to be, want to be, or think you ought to be. There’s no hiding anything from God (Psalm 139), so it’s best to come to him transparently.
When we pray, we bring to God ourselves, our whole selves.
We have all sorts of ideas about prayer. We call it a practice and might associate it with certain kinds of people more put-together or religious than us. The Bible explains prayer to us very simply: it’s coming to God. We bring our inner selves before God. We say, “Lord, here I am. Here’s what’s going on inside. I would like to talk with you about it.”
Lift Up Your Soul to the Lord
There’s much more to learn about prayer, but this point is important enough for us to ponder on its own. When you pray, do you unselfconsciously lift your soul to God? Do you come just as you are and lay yourself at his feet? You may!
Today, whether in distress or doubt or fullness of joy, go to the Lord as you are. Lift up your soul and all that is swirling within you to the Lord. He takes wonderful care of our souls when we entrust them to him.