Prayer Establishes Our Refuge in God
Take Refuge
Scripture Reading: Psalm 18:3-6
Key Verse: Psalm 18:1-2
For the director of music. Of David the servant of the Lord. He sang to the Lord the words of this song when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said:
I love you, O Lord, my strength.
The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.
He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
The fact that Jesus told us, in his model prayer, to pray for deliverance from the evil one should give us great peace. The evil one is out to destroy our lives. Stress and anxiety are just a couple of his favorite weapons. If the evil one can rob us of our joy, he then has our strength as well!
In today’s scripture, the Psalmist David wrote that he took refuge in the Lord. Note that the word “take” means there was a conscious effort on his part. The refuge of the Lord is our safe place, a shelter, a haven of hope, but if we don’t “take” it, we won’t enjoy it. If someone has convinced me that the “refuge” is not real or is no longer safe, then I lose my joy in life. Every day I have a decision to make, either to trust the refuge or to be stressed over the problems. At least for me, I don’t get very many days that don’t have issues: problems to deal with. If I don’t take the refuge that is provided me by God, I stress out! I wish I could say that I always take refuge, but I don’t. For some unexplainable reason, there are days when, by default, I choose to stress out. Do you do that as well?
Let’s determine to pray the model prayer every day. When we get to the “deliver us from evil” part, let’s thank Him for being our refuge! Why don’t we decide, right now, to take that refuge and feel safe all day! The evil one whispers doubts about it. Call him a liar and enjoy your refuge.
Father, I come running into your refuge. I can feel my mind and body relax as I trust your strength. Please remind me—often. In Jesus Name, I pray, amen.