THE THREE R’S

“Restore us, O God of our salvation, and cause Your anger toward us to cease [forever]. Will You be angry with us forever? Will You prolong Your anger [and disfavour] and spread it out to all generations?  Will You not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You?  Show us Your mercy and loving-kindness, O Lord, and grant us Your salvation…Psalm 85:4-7.”

At school, we had the Three R’s: Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic.   Here in this Psalm, we have the heart cry of every believer concerning how we are to pray.   Well, here we have an example. We should pray to be restored, in our relationship with God.

Every time, we sin, we should come quickly to the throne of grace to receive mercy, because we do not want God to be distant for long.  Any Christian misses the unique fellowship, they have with the Father as the Psalmist says in the above passage. He/she prays so that the anger of God against the sin, is taken away.

The Christian prays to be revived.   He/she has a great need and that is to have a fresh and vibrant touch of the Lord. We long to be filled with the power and glory of God. Every Christian longs to be revived.   Do your prayers have a yearning for revival?

Third, the Christian wants to be restored and revived, so that He/she can rejoice. Who does the Christian rejoice in? Do you rejoice in the blessings God gives us…that is good?  But the main thing we need to do is rejoice in God himself.  How much time do you take rejoicing in God?   His glory, his attributes?   Ask for Restoration, ask for Revival, and then you can Rejoice in God.

God Bless You,

Keith