Week Twenty - Chariot Prayers

Psalm 20 is a song that takes the form of a prayer for God to answer and deliver in times of trouble. Filled with hope and assurance, in full reliance on God, the psalmist uses positive words like send, remember, accept, grant, and fulfill as he prays to God. Notice that the prayer has not yet been answered. There appears to still be a problem, but the emphasis of the prayer is on anticipating the answer.

Verse 2, send help and give strength.
Verse 3, remember and accept my worship.
Verse 4, grant and fulfill my requests.

These three verses give us a basic outline. Tell God what you need, keep praising and worshiping, and leave the answer to Him.

Words like rejoice, save, rise, and stand reveal the psalmist's heart. Though his prayer remains unanswered, his chosen outlook is one of rejoicing, faith, and anticipated victory.

Verse 5, we will rejoice, fly our banner, and watch God fulfill our petitions.
Verse 6, the Lord saves by His saving strength alone.
Verse 8, we are risen, and stand upright.

All these words show his expectation because he has remembered the name of the Lord and placed his petitions before Him.

These are prayers of faith.

Chariot prayers are different. 

Chariot prayers seek solutions rather than looking to God and give God instructions instead of seeking His hand. They are not requests but demands coming from a heart desiring control or perceived power. Sometimes we are guilty of praying as if everything is hopeless, like God doesn't hear or see, much less remember, grant, or fulfill. We get bogged down in the problem and forget the strength of God's hand.

When we pray like that, we are placing our trust in chariots of our own figuring or in the expectation that our problems will be solved by ourselves or by man, that if we pray hard enough or long enough, we will find a way through.

Chariot prayers are bound to fail, but when we remember God, He will fulfill all our petitions (verse 5), and we will rise and stand (verse 8), for only God can save. These are prayers of faith.

So, consider, are your prayers hitched to a chariot or to the name of the Lord our God? (verse 7)