Faith and Prayer Must Go Together

Tip! 'Asking of God' and 'receiving' from the Lord - direct request to God, immediate connection with God - that is true prayer.

Psalms 31:1-8

In You, O LORD, I put my trust;

Let me never be ashamed;

Deliver me in Your righteousness.

Bow down Your ear to me, Deliver me speedily;

Be my rock of refuge, A fortress of defense to save me.

For You are my rock and my fortress;

Therefore, for Your name's sake, Lead me and guide me.

Pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me,

For You are my strength.

Into Your hand I commit my spirit;

You have redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.

I have hated those who regard useless idols;

But I trust in the LORD.

I will be glad and rejoice in Your mercy,

For You have considered my trouble;

You have known my soul in adversities,

And have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy;

You have set my feet in a wide place.

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Faith and prayer must go together, for the prayer of faith is the prevailing prayer. David gave up his soul in a special manner to God. And with the words, Psalms 31:5, our Lord Jesus yielded up His last breath on the cross, and made His soul a free-will offering for sin, laying down His life as a ransom.

But David is here as a man in distress and trouble. And his great care is about his soul, his spirit, his better part. Many think that while confused about their lives here on earth and all the messed up affairs, and their worries are multiplying, they may be exempt if they don't pray for their own souls. But we should be more concerned to look and pray for our own souls, that, though the outward person may perish, the inward person will suffer no damage.

The redemption of the soul is so precious, that it would have come to an end for ever, if Christ had not undertaken it. Having relied on God's mercy, we will be glad and rejoice in it. God looks at our souls, when we are in trouble, to see whether they are humbled because of sin, and made better by the affliction. Every believer will meet with such dangers and deliverances, until they are delivered from death, their last enemy.