Psalm 6

1 O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath.
2 Be merciful to me, LORD, for I am faint; O LORD, heal me, for my bones are in agony.
3 My soul is in anguish. How long, O LORD, how long?
4 Turn, O LORD, and deliver me; save me because of your unfailing love.
5 No one remembers you when he is dead. Who praises you from the grave?
6 I am worn out from groaning; all night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears.
7 My eyes grow weak with sorrow; they fail because of all my foes.
8 Away from me, all you who do evil, for the LORD has heard my weeping.
9 The LORD has heard my cry for mercy; the LORD accepts my prayer.
10 All my enemies will be ashamed and dismayed; they will turn back in sudden disgrace.

I don't know how many times I have turned to this chapter when I'm feeling disgusting, disgraceful, sinful, and far from my God. Verse 6 still echos in my ears from reciting it over and over between sobs. I've cried out to God in my sorrow and shame... and the good news is that He heard me! Of course, it doesn't seem like it at first. It seemed like my prayers and cries were just floating around my tiny dorm room looking for a place to land with no success. I can remember hiding under my covers wishing God had never seen the sins I'd committed, but knowing full well that He had. Then I get to verse 8. I scream at the Devil and demand Him to go away "in the Name of Jesus!" I have been redeemed and "lifted up out of the slimy pit; out of the mud and mire" and the only way that I have the strength and courage to stand is because my Savior has "set my feet on a rock and give[n] me a firm place to stand" (Psalm 40:2). This doens't always happen right away. It didn't for me and it may or may not in the future.

Just remember, though, that when you pray "In the name of Jesus," no evil can touch you. I learned this when I was on a mission trip to Guatemala for the first time. Dr. Alb, the head of the ministry we worked with there told me to "pray with authority and in the name of Jesus." I wasn't really sure what that meant, but soon figured it out as I started praying over a man with a broken knee and saw the Lord heal Him right before my eyes! We serve such a mighty and powerful God! No evil spirit can stand when we serve on our Creator's side! Evil has already been overcome! I know it often doesn't feel like this, but God never said anything about "feeling." He never told us we would "feel saved" or "feel Him there" or "feel good." However, He does promise that He will hear our cries and accept our prayers (verse 9). He might not do this in the way we plan (actually, He probably won't), but then again, He knows the future and what's best for us and we don't (although we often think we do).