Jesus, I keep struggling with a lack of wisdom. I keep getting into situations where I don’t know what to do; but, I keep asking God, Who gives GENEROUSLY to all without finding fault, and it will keep being given to me. But when I ask, help me believe and not doubt, because if I doubt I am like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. I should not think I will receive ANYTHING from the Lord; I would be a double-minded man, unstable in all I do (James 1:5-8).

Psa 9:1b (NIV) A psalm of David:
Jesus, I will praise You, O LORD, with ALL my heart; I will tell of ALL Your wonders. Like David, make me into a person who experiences a lot of results; he started out at a very young age with a tremendous amount of appreciation for the wonderful things God was doing for him. Let me catch up with him by realizing that a lot of the miracles, help, and blessings God does for me have been and are somewhat small. Since God doesn’t want to overwhelm me with things that are so big they FORCE me to believe and trust Him, let me see them all and spend a lot of time praising You for them.

Help me see how important it is for me to be able to see the small miracles from God just as much as I see the big ones. Show me that I will never be able to feel God’s love for me, if I miss seeing ALL the things He is doing for me. Make it clear to me that this process of NOTICING and APPRECIATING these miracles will take me into being healed from the struggles with guilt; AND, it will take me into a wonderful relationship with my heavenly Father.

Jesus, I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High (Psa 9:2). Teach me that there are two ways of looking at this prayer David prayed to God. I could see him saying that he was going to use his determination and will-power to make sure he praised God. But, show me that when I make a promise like that, that is when I end up disappointing myself and feeling like I have failed God. Teach me that if I make God promises, then I have to do what it takes to keep them. If I fail to keep my promises, then it is ME who broke my promises.

Jesus, teach me that there is another way of seeing this prayer. It is to see David PROCLAIMING his faith in God’s ability and faithfulness. It is an ability and faithfulness to EMPOWER him to remember and express appreciate and praise Him. Teach me that a promise is faith in my own strength, determination, efforts, and abilities to “be glad and rejoice.” A proclamation of faith in God’s power is me saying: “I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High because I know You will empower me to do it.”

Jesus, because of You, my enemies turn back; they stumble and perish before You (Psa 9:3). It sometimes seems strange to tell God all He has done for me; but, help me see that this is a part of strengthening my faith and helping it be consistent. Help me start laying out all the things I have NOTICED that God has done for me and mentioning them to Him. Help understand that God will respond to this list by sending me power and excitement in me and my faith. Help me start making a daily list of all the things I have noticed that God did for me that day. Then when I have my time of prayer, help me use that list to tell God how much I appreciate all of it. Let that help me pray a prayer of appreciation to my heavenly Father.

Jesus, You have upheld my right and my cause; You have sat on Your throne, judging righteously (Psa 9:4). Make it clear to me that God judges righteously; and, that means He always does what is right, good, best, and loving. Teach me that this is based on His complete knowledge of everything past, present, and future concerning everyone and everything. However, for me to get His benefits from His incredible knowledge, I have to do two important things: (1) I have to ask and (2) I have to ask in faith. Even though these two things aren’t all that is needed, help me make them priority issues.

Jesus, teach me that one of the major things that damages my CONSISTENT faith is caused by my inadequate, limited knowledge. I compare what God does with what I THINK I know. God may do things or allow things that I don’t agree with; that offends my “faith-filter.” I evaluate the situation using my limited knowledge of what I think; and then I face a choice. Help me NOT have faith in my knowledge, abilities, and skills. Help me trust God’s incredible knowledge, abilities, and skills. I now confess with my mouth and believe in my heart that HE is more qualified and loves me more than I love myself.

Jesus, You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked; You have blotted out their name for ever and ever. Endless ruin has overtaken the enemy, You have uprooted their cities; even the memory of them has perished (Psa 9:5-6). Help me read the Old Testament and learn more about God and all the things He has done in the past; let me get to know Him better through it. Let the Bible help me learn a lot about God’s character and attitudes. David had done a lot of reading and studying the Bible and had a lot of knowledge about the things God had done in the past. This HISTORICAL knowledge helped him have a lot more faith in God than just from his own personal experiences. Let that happen to me; help me put myself into those situations in the Bible and SEE what incredible things You have done there.

Jesus, You, The LORD, reign forever; You have established Your throne for judgment. You will judge the world in righteousness; You will govern the people with justice (Psa 9:7-8). Things have happened to me that haven’t been fair; people and circumstances have mistreated me and set me up for a certain amount of pain, suffering, and failure. But, help me start to ask for help, righteousness (things that are good for me and those around me), and justice (fair treatment).

Jesus, make my prayer be like David’s prayer; let me start proclaiming and describing the kind of rule, leadership, authority, and principles God operates by. Like David, give me decades of experiences with God and know Him better than I do now. Let David’s prayer give me a chance to look through his eyes and see God the way he experienced Him. Let his prayer tell me what I can expect as I continue to develop my relationship with God.

Jesus, You are a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Those who know Your name will trust in You, for You, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek You (Psa 9:9-10). Let me find this out about God; all through the Bible let me hear this same thing from those who put consistent faith in Him. Let my experiences build a faith inside me that will become strong and never wavering. But, in the meantime, let these friends of mine, like David, help me trust Him based on their experiences.

Jesus, I sing praises to You, LORD, enthroned in Zion; I proclaim among the nations what You have done. For You Who avenge blood remembers; You do not ignore the cry of the afflicted (Psa 9:11-12). Jesus, thank You for giving me this opportunity to see how much my faith and trust will grow in God. As David prayed and sang songs of faith in God, he expressed how he felt about the way God treated him over the years of his life. As David saw a lot of battles and a lot of abuse against him and the people around him, he knew, from years of experience, that God always comes through for those who cry out for His help. Help me get what David got, as I grow through my experiences with God.

Jesus, my LORD, see how my enemies persecute me! Have mercy and lift me up from the gates of death, that I may declare Your praises in the gates of the Daughter of Zion and there rejoice in Your salvation (Psa 9:13-14). Even though David wasn’t praying about problems with guilt, and even though he was praying about people who were persecuting him, help me see I can pray his prayers because they have very similar structure and characteristics to them. Show me that I can say things like: “O Lord, see how I suffer from struggles with guilt! Have mercy and lift me up from the gates of death, that I may declare Your praises and rejoice in Your salvation.”

Jesus, just like the nations have fallen into the pit they have dug; their feet are caught in the net they have hidden, show me that You work the same miracles for me. You, my LORD, are known by Your justice; the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands. The wicked return to the grave, all the nations that forget You. But the needy like me will not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the afflicted like me will ever perish (Psa 9:15-18).

Help me keep in mind that I accidently and ignorantly DO wicked things; but, that doesn’t make me the wicked. The wicked are people who do bad things to themselves and others and have dedicated themselves to it. I have been made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. 2 Cor 5:21 (NIV) God made Him Who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. Keep me always aware that I have been set free from all wickedness in my record with God.

Arise, O LORD, let not man triumph; let the nations be judged in Your presence. Strike them with terror, O LORD; let the nations know they are but men (Psa 9:19-20). Jesus, even though David’s main issues were with wicked, evil people and may not necessarily fit my exact difficulties in life, help me see that these prayers are still presented to me as guides for MY problems. Help me take them and reword them so that the principle of the prayers are the same but better fit my situation. Help me see how to reword prayers like this: “Arise, O Lord, don’t let my difficulties with guilt triumph over me.”