Prayer for guidance and deliverance (2024)

Advent is a season of waiting, reflection, and preparation as we celebrate the arrival of Jesus and look forward to His return. In this episode, we dive into Psalm 25:1-10, a powerful prayer for guidance and deliverance.

What if, instead of focusing on gifts, we turned our Christmas lists into prayer lists? Psalm 25 teaches us to trust in God’s paths, pursue His truth, and rely on His grace as we align our lives with His loving will.

Join me as we explore what it means to wait on the Lord this Advent, humbling ourselves to follow His tracks—the ones left by the cross. Let’s prepare our hearts for the ultimate gift: Jesus Christ.

Enjoy this message? Consider visiting Ravenna Church of the Nazarene where Pastor Jason is the Senior Pastor. Have a prayer need? Want to share something with Pastor Jason?

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Chapters

• 0:00 Trailer
• 0:17 Theme song--"The Dirt Path" by Jeremy Edwards
• 1:21 Introduction: Christmas changes
• 5:50 Reading of the Passage: Psalm 25:1-10
• 7:13 Key verse 10
• 14:13 Verses 8-9--Those who humble themselves
• 16:03 Verses 1-7--What humility looks like
• 25:26 What does this teach us?
• 33:08 Invitation--Align your tracks with His
• 37:26 Call to action
• 38:05 Outro

Transcript

MY CHRISTMAS LIST

ADVENT WEEK 1: PRAYER FOR GUIDANCE & DELIVERANCE

     Advent is the season we celebrate the birth of Jesus, the coming of Christ into the world. While we celebrate His first arrival in the manger, we also look forward to Christ’s second coming. Of course, if you have kids or grandkids, they are not focused on any of that. They are focused on their Christmas lists for Santa, parents, and grand parents.

     I was like that as a kid. But as I have gotten older, my Christmas list has changed. As I have come to know Jesus, what I view as important has shifted. So rather than a list things I want under the tree, my Christmas list has become a prayer list.

     Prayer is always important, but especially in Advent. Advent is a season of waiting for the arrival of Christ. Psalm 25 shows us a prayer of expectation, as the psalmist cries out for God’s guidance and deliverance, much like us as we wait for hope to become reality. Like the psalmist, we want to know God’s will for us.

     Psalm 25:1-10(CEB):

1 I offer my life to you, LORD.

2 My God, I trust you. Please don’t let me be put to shame! Don’t let my enemies rejoice over me!

3 For that matter, don’t let anyone who hopes in you be put to shame; instead, let who are treacherous without excuse be put to shame.

4 Make your ways known to me, LORD; teach me your paths.

5 Lead me in your truth—teach it to me—because you are the God who saves me. I put my hope in you all day long.

6 LORD, remember your compassion and faithful love—they are forever!

7 But don’t remember the sins of my youth or my wrong doing. Remember me only according to your faithful love for the sake of your goodness, LORD.

8 The LORD is good and does the right thing; he teaches sinners which way they should go.

9 God guides the weak to justice, teaching them his way.

10 All the LORD’s paths are loving and faithful for those who keep his covenant and laws.

This is the word of God

For the people of God

Thanks be to God

     Did you notice what verse 10 said? It read, “All the LORD’s paths are loving and faithful.” Those are encouraging words for someone who is prayerfully seeking God’s will. We know God’s will was to demonstrate His love for the world by sending Jesus into the world. It was not the action itself, but what God’s action demonstrated, love. His will is unchanging, meaning it is the same now and it was the same in the Old Testament for the psalmist. When we come to a fork in the road of our faith journey, God’s greatest concern is not whether we go left or right, but are we motivated by our love for Him.

     I know this is a bold statement, but let me explain. First, I only read the beginning of verse 10. The second half says, “For those who keep his covenant and laws.” What is God’s covenant? What are His decrees? Our initial response is mostly likely the Ten Commandments, the Levitical law, and the prophets. While those are certainly convey God’s expectations, what was God’s intent behind them? Love for people, with the goal of telling humanity how to love Him.

     The psalmist in verse 8 says, “The LORD is good and does the right thing, he teaches sinners which way they should go.” God is open to teaching sinners like the psalmist, you, and me what it means to love Him. Verse 9 says, “God guides the weak to justice, teaching them his way.” “Weak” does not mean those who are powerless or incapable, although that is true in our case. It means those who humble themselves.

     What does it mean to be humble? How about being the Son of God being born in a manger? Rather than sitting on a throne and reigning over us, Jesus came to serve rather than be served. Throughout Psalm 25, the psalmist has been defining what it means to be humble for us. “I offer my life to you, LORD. My God, I trust you.” (verse 1 and 2) When the world around the psalmist goes dark, they do not try dig deeper within their own being. They turn to hope. Who is their hope? God. Part of being humble is having trust in God.

     “Make your ways known to me, teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth—teach it to me—because you are the God who saves me. I put my hope in you all day long.” (verses 4 and 5) When living in the hope of trusting God becomes our lifestyle, it opens our eyes to how deeply you need God. The psalmist’s prayer is not some foxhole prayer, it is a pleading with God to know God’s heartbeat so the psalmist can live in the same rhythm. There is no room for the old sinful life, leaning one’s old understanding. It is allowing God’s holiness to consume you and become your lifestyle, abandoning whatever is false for what is true. Being humble is trusting in God, but also pursuing God.

     Holy living and trusting God are great, essential to being humble. But to trust fully in God, we must learn to trust Him above ourselves. The psalmist repents of their sin in verse 7, “Don’t remember the sins of my youth or my wrongdoing. Remember me according to your faithful love.” When the psalmist asks for God to “remember the sins of my youth”, they are asking for God to forgive their thoughtless actions that went contrary to Him. It was not enough to ask for forgiveness for their wrong actions, but also for not knowing better. God’s grace was sufficient to cover it all, and it is the same for us. So being humble is trusting God, pursuing God, and falling on God’s grace.

     What is verse 10 saying to? “All the LORD’s paths are loving and faithful.” As long as we have faith in Jesus, no matter what path we take, the Holy Spirit will not lead outside the will of God. The word translated “paths” is referring to “tracks” or “ruts” made by the wheels of wagons passing over the same ground. Only Advent reminds us that these ruts were not made by a wagon, but by the cross Jesus carried. God’s ways are always good, true, and part of His loving kindness. When we are humble, trusting in God, pursuing God, and repentant toward God, that is seeking to align our tracks with Christ’s tracks.

     Notice the second half of verse 10, it is very important in all this. “For those who keep his covenant and laws.” If our heart is truly trusting in God, pursuing God, and repentant toward God, do we really believe that we will some how end up in the wrong tracks? If we decide to go on the wrong tracks, do we really think the Holy Spirit will just let us wander without callig us back?

     This Advent, as we wait and hope, let us align our lives with God’s tracks. Like the psalmist, we trust in His steadfast love, pursue His truth, and repent of our sins. All of this prepares for the ultimate gift of Advent, the arrival of Jesus, the One who makes the paths of the Lord clear to us.