Praying the IOU’s, Part 2

November, 2007

by: Brodie McClain

While praying through the Calvary Bible Church prayer sheet I recently came across this prayer request, “Please pray for me as my walk with Jesus is very weak! I have again wandered off on my own and again am sitting alone in the dark in fear for my salvation?! When will I ever be able to get this right?!” Can you sympathize with this cry for prayer? Have you ever felt exactly the same way: weak, alone, hopeless? I know that I walk down that path whenever I wander off into sin. When I am done rebelling against God I feel empty, hopeless, and very far from my Savior and even distant from my church community as well.

So what can we do during these times of struggle?

The general answer can be summarized this way: Confess your sin and draw near to God. But in this series on praying the IOUS I want to offer some specific prayers that will help you live out that answer. The simple acronym IOUS stands for:

• Incline my heart to your testimonies (Ps 119:36)
• Open my eyes, that I may behold wonderful things from Your law (Ps 119:18)
• Unite my heart to fear Your name (Ps 86:11)
• Satisfy us in the morning with Your lovingkindness (Ps 90:14)

These verses are simple to remember and easy to regurgitate when you are feeling weak, alone, and hopeless. The first one is directly from Psalm 119:36 (ESV), “Incline my heart to Your testimonies and not to selfish gain,” and requires little interpretation. The psalmist is simply crying out for God to bend his own heart toward the Word of God and at the same time bend it away from covetousness. Notice that the psalmist desires more than merely running his eyes over the Scriptures or filling his brain with God’s Word. That may be a place to start, but the end goal of his longing is a heart that has changed direction.

This is exactly what we need when our hearts are weak and hopeless after a bout with sin and discouragement. We need hearts disengaged with self and re-engaged with the Word of God.

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