“But You, God my Lord, deal kindly with me because of Your name; deliver me because of the goodness of Your faithful love.” – Psalm 109:21 (HCSB)

Psalm 109:21 teaches us a very important lesson about prayer; notice the psalmist does not offer any reason from within himself why these blessings are deserved, but only appeals to the character of God to provide for his requests. When we come to God and make requests of Him, the only foundation we have to make these appeals is the character of God. I can never come before His throne and make requests based on how deserving I am. If I ever make a request of God in some manner similar to, “God, I have done this, so I believe you should do this,” I have missed the point completely. Even the angels in heaven only have one thing to say to God, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts; His glory fills the whole earth” (Isaiah 6:3). This is not to say we cannot make requests of God; He loves to hear our heart’s desires! However, any request we bring before Him, must be based on His character and not our worth. When we ask for forgiveness, we appeal to His mercy. When we ask for blessing, we appeal to His grace. When we ask for comfort, we appeal to His love. Any good we receive from our Heavenly Father is based on His goodness, and never on our ability to earn it. So next time you enter God’s throne room in prayer, let your pride fall down, recognize your unworthiness, and depend fully on the incredible goodness of God to provide for your every need.

Heavenly Father, we come today and recognize that we are not even worthy to be in Your presence, let alone make requests of You. So we thank You for Your incredible mercy, grace, and love that not only allows us to enter into Your presence, but provides for our every need.