Arrow Prayers to God
(Read Psalm 42)
I remember as a child, rummaging through our attic and stumbling upon a cardboard box of my Dad’s hunting arrows. I couldn’t believe how cool they looked, and sharp! The tips were like diamond shaped razor blades. My friend and I took his bow and some arrows outside. We used all kinds of things as targets. One thing that still strikes me to this day is how fast, straight, and direct those arrows flew to the targets. At that distance, their trajectory was flat.
As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, my God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?
Psalm 42:1-2
Whether Psalm 42 was written by Moses or the Sons of Korah, Moses’ cousin, the psalmist was having an argument of sorts with himself. There were two sides to him; a dark side and a bright side. There was despair and hope. The translated word used for “despair” comes from the Hebrew word “shakhakh,” means “to crouch, bow down.” A deer panting for water shows us an immediate need. The animal was thirsty for water, but the psalmist was thirsty for God.
Notice that the psalmist is not surrendering to the discouragement, he is going to a known solution. He used a proven strategy for rising above it to find all his hopes in God. Some have commented that the tone of Jesus’ sorrowful prayers in Gethsemane (Mark & Matthew) point to this Psalm.
“I was raised Catholic until 20,” my friend (B) told me. “I remember confessing my sins to a Priest for the first time, saying the Act of Contrition, and trying to mean every single word.” She added, “I would picture Christ on the cross because of my sins and try to repent even though I didn’t understand it too much.” (B) is a neighbor and a friend of ours from our small group. Our group can get energetic and loud at times, she doesn’t always share in the boisterous conversations. (B) is a bit private, so it was a true blessing for me to hear her story.
“I did believe in a lot of the rituals, but I would privately pray my own words to Jesus. I’m not saying I was saved at that time, but I’ve always wondered if I really was then.” When (B) turned 20, she experienced a more noticeable sign of her salvation. She continued, “I was working with a lady who was angry, abrupt, and cursed a lot. I noticed one day she was an entirely different person. It happened overnight.” (B) told me that her coworker shared the good news that she had accepted Christ. I think (B) knew right then the difference between who she was and who she wanted to be.
“There was no more anger in the lady at work. It was then that I understood the whole picture better and realized Jesus did die for everyone’s sins, but he would have even if it was just me. I knew it personally.” (B) mentioned that her accepting Jesus and joining a new church would cause a huge chasm between her parents and her, so she went back to her parents’ church one more time just to be sure. “Can you know you’re saved before you die?” she asked someone. What she heard gave her the definitive answer she needed. “One person told me, ‘You can’t really be sure that God’s promises are true until you die.'” With that, her decision was made. “This happened around Christmas so I didn’t tell my Dad at the time.”
In C. S. Lewis’ stories about Narnia, the character Mr. Tumnus once complained that, “It’s always winter and never Christmas,” in Narnia. For my friend (B) and everyone else who has Jesus as a Savior, every day is Christmas.
“I would meet my eventual husband at my new church. My parents didn’t come to our wedding. They were the ones missing out. I didn’t.”
Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.
Psalm 42:5
There is a distinct back and forth discussion going on in this Psalm. The psalmist is clearly discouraged, but he’s also blasting himself for not recognizing the cure. He knows the source for hope. He’s been there before, and he knew that he would be praising God once again.
In the King James translation of this passage, the last part of verse 5 says, “For I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.” The original Hebrew language used for this phrase meant, “For the salvations of his face.” It was a metaphor for God’s warm expression, God’s approval of us. It is the smile upon God’s face. In life, we rarely see things like God does. The psalmist reminds us the blessing on God’s face, not life itself, holds solutions and hope for our problems.
“I was a gymnast as a child and D-I athlete.” She had to be accountable and always perform at the highest level. More importantly, she needed a high-level of self-discipline to succeed. “I didn’t drink alcohol or do drugs because of this.”
“After accepting Christ, I noticed a change in myself more than earth-shattering changes in my life,” (B) said. “It was more about how I thought that changed than anything else. I also learned to pray directly to God with arrow prayers.”
(B) coined that phrase. Speaking of metaphors! I love it. Her prayers are fast, direct darts to God. No longer needing an intermediary to deliver her prayers, she shoots directly to our Lord. “I don’t say I’m going to pray for someone if I’m not going to.” I could see the joy in her as she displayed the freedom and power of her prayer life.
Are You Sitting Down?
“We tried for 9 years to get pregnant. I had multiple miscarriages. After the last one, I cried, ‘What more do you want from me God?’ First there was silence. Then, I felt a sense of peace. ‘I just want you.'” That’s what God always wants from us, I thought. He’s perfect and He’s already done everything and paid the ultimate price. (B) said, “Why would God expect something more from me? Hearing His answer put me in my place. I get it — it is what it is.”
(B) finished her story, “Three months later, after giving God control over this, I found out I was pregnant!” After going through fertility treatments, pain, and discouragement, (B) and her husband were set up to go have genetic testing, but they needed to wait 3 months after the last miscarriage. “So I went in to the office the get a pregnancy test to make sure I could continue with the testing. The result came back the next day and my doctor asked if I was sitting down. ‘You won’t believe it, but you’re pregnant,’ he said.”
“A few months later into the pregnancy, I asked my doctor if I could stop worrying. ‘No you worry until you die,’ he told me.”
Years later, (B)’s family moved to a more transient community on the Pacific coast. She mentioned there was a drug house right in their neighborhood. “A girl on meth broke into our home on the 4th of July. She ran out of the house and was surrounded by our neighbors. ‘Don’t shoot the dog,’ she shouted. There was no dog.”
She mentioned that the police weren’t much help and suggested a neighborhood watch. “Instead we started a prayer chain — more like a phone tree. We collected a ton of license plate numbers, reported all kinds of activity to the police and finally, the narcotics team declared the home a drug house and moved them away.” Eventually, these skills landed her a career in law enforcement. She was hired first as a drug house abatement facilitator, then on a narcotics team, and eventually as a criminal analyst for the state police.
“So many of those people were on crystal meth,” (B) lamented. Crystal Methamphetamine is a strong, highly addictive drug that affects the central nervous system. “It’s so addictive and destructive, it strips people of the choice which master you follow.”
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).
Matthew 1:23
Just as the psalmist wrote in Psalm 42, to find hope, real life-saving hope, we must first seek God. God’s promise guarantees that our Savior will always be with us. His promise guarantees that His face smiles upon us and blesses us. How can we be downcast, suffering from despair with Immanuel by our side? We can’t. His promise cannot be broken. His Son fixed that for us.
My faith gives me an, ‘It is what it is,’ attitude to handle the ups and downs in life. I am now mindful of these times, take a step and move on. When working too hard one night while at the state police, my supervisor said, ‘Go home, this is not who you are. This is just a job.'”
I asked (B), “Well, who are you?”
“I am a child of God,” she replied without hesitation.
“Psalm 42 verse 5 always comes back to me. When I’m worried with anxious feelings, I know where the answer is. I know the story. I believe in God’s promises. Nothing is new or surprising to Him.”
The clarity and discipline of (B)’s faith is so inspiring to me. She knows where to turn to navigate the pitfalls in life. She knows that discouragement is something we can’t avoid. She talks to God through the best and worst of times with the accuracy and directness of an arrow. All our prayers to God should be this way.
Oh
Greater is He that is living in me
He’s conquered our enemy
Oh
No power of darkness
No weapon prevails
We stand here in victory
Oh, in victory
Power — Jeremy Camp
Key Applications:
- Do you see God’s affirming and sovereign love in Psalm 42?
- How do you deal with discouragement? Do you look to life for answers or God?
- As long as they’re sincere, there’s no wrong way to pray. If you pray rote, institutional prayers, that’s fine. But this week, try personal, gut-wrenching prayers between you and God. Shoot directly.
Where else in your life can you live out the teachings of Christ? Look for next week’s Devotion.