Crisis praying is serious praying.

David the giant-slayer found himself in one crisis after another. Fleeing from jealous King Saul, he hid in a cave and prayed his heart out. I learned from his experience recorded in Psalm 142.

His cave-crisis praying began with crying out to God.

He ran to God. “I cried unto the Lord with my voice.”

He stated his need out loud and begged. “With my voice unto the Lord did I make my supplication.”

He emptied his grief. “I poured out my complaint before him.”

He laid out all his concern. “I shewed before him my trouble.”

He admitted he felt overpowered, but God knew his circumstances. “When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path.”

David the giant-slayer, hiding in a cave from King Saul, felt overpowered but comforted because God knew his circumstances. See Psalm 142. Click To Tweet

He explained his situation specifically. “In the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare for me.”

He recognized the futility of human help and felt no one cared. “I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul.”

He expressed his need with tears. “I cried unto thee, O Lord.”

He acknowledged God as his shelter, his protection from danger, his inheritance, his possession. “I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living.”

He asked God to pay attention. “Attend unto my cry.”

He stated his desperate need. “I am brought very low.”

He relied totally on God. “Deliver me from my persecutors; for they are stronger than I.”

He verbalized his desolation. “Bring my soul out of prison.”

He reminded God why he should act. “That I may praise thy name.”

Have you ever felt desperate, as if you were praying in a cave, isolated from human help? Learn from David's prayer Psalm 142. Click To Tweet

He declared his confidence in God. “The righteous shall compass me about; for thou shalt deal bountifully with me.”

Lord, remind me of David’s prayer the next time I’m in a cave.

Have you even felt desperate, as if you were praying in a cave, isolated from human help? How did the Lord deliver you from that circumstance? Please leave a comment. And share this with friends stranded in a cave!

Adapted from Cabbages and Kings—Reflections on Living Abundantly in Christ.

(Scriptures from King James Version.)

© Dianne Barker 2018 (reprinted)