23 “And now, LORD, let the promise you have made concerning your servant and his house be established forever. Do as you promised, 24 so that it will be established and that your name will be great forever. Then men will say, ‘The LORD Almighty, the God over Israel, is Israel’s God!’ And the house of your servant David will be established before you. 1 Chronicles 17:23-24 (NIV)

David ends his prayer with his acceptance of God’s blessings. I suppose many would respond to this by saying, “Of course he accepted them! Who wouldn’t?” But if you truly want to understand David’s heart in this, look closely at this passage beginning with the end of verse 23 where David prays “Do as you promised, so that it will be established and that your name will be great forever. Then men will say, ‘The LORD Almighty, the God over Israel, is Israel’s God!’ “ David is not saying “bless me so I will be famous and it will be wonderful for me and my descendants.” In his heart he is still desiring that God’s name would be great and acknowledged by all men.

In 1 Chronicles 25-27 David continues to go over again in his prayer the awesomeness of what God has promised to him. In verse 25 he indicates that he needed to find courage to even pray to God after this great revelation was made to him through the prophet Nathan.

Do we feel David’s sense of awe when we are in the presence of God Almighty? Do we need to find the courage to approach God with our petitions, or do we simply jump in as if we were sending a letter to Santa Claus? If we want a powerful God to answer our prayers, we may need to learn to address him as the awesome God that he is.

Most holy God, we confess that our prayers are often so small and self-centered. Give us a right heart before you. Help us to truly align our wills with yours that we may know how to pray to you and to present our own petitions with reverence and respect.

Copyright © 2008 by Janice Green

Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.