Psalms 3

Many are they who say of me,
“There is no help for him in God.”

I actually have christian friends who believe my prayers dead and they never rise above the rooftop of my house.  Their reasoning for this…since I’m gay, God does not hear my prayers.  The term “gay christian” is, for them, an oxymoron.  When I offer to pray for  these individuals, I’m usually met with silence.

 I know what they’re thinking because I use to be just like them.  Because of a fundamental christian background, I believed God would not hear the prayers of those outside of the “true” faith.   Of course, the fundamental christian faith  was the only true faith.

For example, my grandmother was a devout Jehovah’s Witness; therefore, we as “true Christians” believed God wouldn’t hear or answer her prayers.  I loved her, but I believed according to “God’s Word” her prayers where useless and I took no comfort, whatsoever, in the promise of her prayers.  Today, this makes me extremely sad.  I totally missed out and was robbed of a wonderful  blessing, simply because of my judgmental views of the Bible.  Thank God, I now believe, God  heard her prayers and I’m confident that even now those prayers surround me each day I live.  One day, when I see her again, I will thank her for her prayers.

David, the author of Psalms 3, had the very same problem.  In verse 2 He writes,  Many are they who say of me, “There is no help for him in God.”    David knew there were many who believed him out of God’s will.  Of those, the ones that hurt him the most, was his son, Absalom, and his friend, Hushai.  Absalom desired to overthrow his father and declare himself King of Israel.  (See II Samuel 16:20-19:8)  David fled into the wilderness to hide, and out of his wilderness experience came the words of Psalms 3.

 Always a tenderhearted man David  cried many tears.  Betrayal hurts and even more so when they are friends and family.  What did David do?  In verse 4 David writes, “I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and he heard me…”

That’s exactly what God wants us to do too.  He will hear us just as he heard David.  Only two people can truly know your heart…you and God, so never let anyone judge you and your relationship with Him.  If you have peace with God, who are they to judge!

My Prayer:  Lord, thank you for knowing my heart.  Thank you for the peace you’ve put inside.  Help me not to judge others but rather trust you to work in their hearts just as you have mine.  Amen.