Lot of praying going on in my readings this morning. Solomon asks for an understanding heart that he might discern against good and evil (1Kings 3:9). Mary asks the angel how she’s going to conceive the Son of God and is told it will be through a visitation of the Holy Spirit, Himself, “for with God nothing will be impossible” (Luke 1:34-37). And Paul prays for the Ephesians, that God would give them “the spirit of wisdom and revelation . . . the eyes of your understanding being enlightened . . . that you may know . . . the hope of His calling . . . the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints . . . and . . . the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe” (Eph. 1:17-19). Yup, a whole lotta’ prayin’ goin’ on this morning. But it’s the prayer in Psalm 119 that grabs my attention . . .

“With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments!” (Psalm 119:10)

As I read of Solomon’s request and God’s answer, I find myself saying, “Me too, Lord! Give me a discerning heart . . . a heart that hears.” And I read of Mary, the highly favored one, the gracingly-graced one (same word as my fuzzy warm feeling of yesterday), and I say, “Yes, Lord! With You, truly nothing is impossible!” And as I meditate briefly on Ephesians 1, I whisper, “Bring it on Lord! Give the spirit of revelation, eyes that are open, that I might know the reality of the riches of every spiritual blessing I’ve been given in Christ!” You read these prayers and your heart just soars! “Amen” is on your lips, and praise is in your heart. And then, I go to Psalm 119 . . . blessed Psalm 119 . . . a love letter to the word of God . . . and it’s there that I embrace another prayer, “Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments.”

Wandering . . . not doing a 180 . . . not rejecting the word of God or the God of the word . . . but slowly drifting off course . . . more through inattention than conscious determination. Being distracted . . . by a problem . . . by a pleasure . . . by a pursuit . . . such that the word of God fades for awhile . . . and life becomes ordered under the umbrella of something other than the wisdom and ways of the One who redeemed us for Himself. Oh Lord, let me not wander.

You read this portion of Psalm 119, verses 9 through 16, and this guy’s on fire! “How can a young man cleanse His way? By taking heed according to Your word . . . Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You . . . Teach me Your statutes . . . I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies . . . I will meditate on Your precepts . . . I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.” Yup, on fire! Full of determination. Face set toward pursuing the things of God. Yet, in the midst of such determination, he prays, “Oh, let me not wander.”

How I need to passionately pursue the things of God with a humble heart . . . with a real recognition that, apart from His sustaining, focusing grace, I can be somewhat flakey . . . that, though my spirit is willing, my flesh can be weak . . . though I want my GPS pointed to “true north” sometimes it can stray to the left or the right. And so, I need to pray, “Oh, let me not take my eye off Your word . . . let me not wrap Your wisdom around this world’s ways . . . let me not have such confidence in my discipline that I stop crying out for Your direction . . . by Your grace, through the Spirit, keep me focused on the wonder of it all . . . that I might not know the wander of it all.”

Yup, whole lotta prayin’ goin’ on this morning. And while my heart soars, my heart is also humbled. How I need a God who keeps me from wandering . . . that I might remain focused and faithful . . . at all times . . . in all things . . . that He might always be glorified. Amen?

“O to grace how great a debtor . . . Daily I’m constrained to be! Let Thy goodness, like a fetter, Bind my wandering heart to Thee. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, . . . Prone to leave the God I love; Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, Seal it for Thy courts above.” — Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, Robert Robinson