In times of trouble, may the LORD answer your cry. May the name of the God of Jacob keep you safe from all harm. May he grant your heart’s desires and make all your plans succeed. May we shout for joy when we hear of your victory and raise a victory banner in the name of our God. May the LORD answer all your prayers. Psalm 20: 1, 4-5 NLT

We read this in church last Sunday.  Later that afternoon, I read Psalm 20. What a powerful encouragement to any believer. This psalm also offers me a model for when I petition the Father on behalf of all our leaders, both within the Church and in society.

Using this prayer song, the people of Israel make several requests to God on behalf of their beloved king, David. The people are pleading for what is best for the public good.  David, the warrior king who loves God, wrote this psalm for his people. With it, he actually instructs the people to pray for him in ways that glorify God.

All of a sudden my thoughts flitted forward in time to the Bathsheba and Uriah tragedy.  With that chapter of David’s life in mind, I don’t believe David is unaware of his potential to sin. Certainly he doesn’t want the people to ask God to grant every desire that he might entertain.  But what they are to ask for, is that their king would do all in the name of God, to include defeating their common enemy.         

I, too, want and pray to the Father for Him to defeat His and our enemy, Satan, and all whom he manipulates. For sure,  an enemy of the Lord is my enemy. When I pray for God to be victorious, when I think about our leaders who shepherd the Church and ask for their protection, I want King Jesus to deliver us and the Kingdom from evil. It’s what I most desire.

So, Father, grant this deep desire of mine and alert me to when I crave or long for something that doesn’t glorify You. Without Your protection from Satan’s temptations, I can easily fall into doing something evil, without much thought.