The first half of this stanza contained a couple of instructions on prayer that the psalmist has learned while facing opposition in his life. This passage gives two more. You can see them in Psalm 119:149-152:

As mentioned when we looked at the first half of this strophe, the author of Psalm 119 has learned to rely upon God mainly due to a single factor: his prayer life. He has come to rely upon God for protection and provision, and knows that it is only through his ongoing conversations with God that this relationship can stay vibrant and healthy.

In the first half of the passage, the psalmist gave two ways that using God’s Word in his prayer life gave him the strength he needed to continue following God fully. First, he stated that we must pray earnestly. And second, that we must pray continually.

In the final verses of this stanza, we can see two more characteristics of our prayer life, and the need to use God’s Word within it.

The third way the psalmist speaks of prayer is by praying biblically. What that means is that prayer is often best when it flows straight form our Bible study and our understanding of God’s Word. In a sense, praying biblically is to use God’s very Words in our prayers, repeating them back to him. This is what he means when he states “according to your laws.” He has taken promises, decrees, and teachings from God’s very Word and is relying upon them as the basis for God’s activity within his own life.

The same is true for you and me. When we earnestly seek God’s involvement in our study of his Word, when we pray it back to him, using his own Word as the foundation for our words to him, then God very often reveals deeper and more fulfilling insights into that Word, creating a richer understanding of his communication to us.

Time spent prayerfully in the Bible is time well spent.

The fourth and final instruction on prayer in this strophe of Psalm 119 is found in the last couple of verses. Our prayer lives must be earnest, must be continual, and must be biblical, but we must also pray in faith, believing that God is near, that he hears, and that he is already working on our behalf to do what only he can do.

This sentiment is echoed in the letter written by James, when he writes, “when you ask, you must believe and not doubt…” (James 1:6-8). We live in a world where doubts and fears creep in, regardless of how hard we strive to keep them at bay. But Psalm 119 teaches us that God is a God who gives us faith and strength. And he gives us just what we need.

Often, I hear people complain that they just don’t have much faith. But we don’t need an overwhelming amount of faith. In fact, Jesus stated that if we only had faith the size of a tiny mustard seed, we could move mountains (Matthew 17:20). This sounds counter to all that we have been taught; that we need faith in large quantities to be a “successful” Christian.

But what we have forgotten — or perhaps it’s more of a lie that we have believed — is that our strength is not in our faith. No, our strength comes from the object of our faith, God himself. Our faith does nothing, but the God in whom we place our faith can do anything!

So how do we develop this kind of faith? We gain it by studying the Word of God, to know more of what God is like, and as we learn more, we get to know him better.

The author of Psalm 119 learned this as he studied God’s Word day and night, and in verse 151, he writes perhaps the most telling phrase in the entire psalm: “Yet you are near, O Lord.” It is God’s presence that frees us from our fears, that protects us from that which seeks to destroy us, that provides all that we need to continue to grow in our faith.

He is still near. And he is to be found easily in the pages of Scripture. When you find him there, he will help you to grow in your faith.

That final verse gives us one more insight into God’s nature. He established his Word to last forever.

He isn’t going anywhere. So seek him out. And see if your prayer life might grow because of of it.

Question: How is your prayer life? How might using God’s very own Words help you to grow in that area? You can leave a comment by clicking here.