Delightful Prayer

“The sacrifice of the wicked [is] an abomination to the LORD: but the prayer of the upright [is] his delight.” (Pr 15:8 AV)

The value of prayer of often overlooked.  The word of God repeatedly instructs us that God values humble and contrite prayer.  He values prayers of praise, not because He has an ego that needs to be tended to, but because in praise, we are reminded of how blessed we are.  He values prayer as worship because our hearts go to Him, submitted to His perfect and benevolent will.  The word ‘…delight…’ tells it all!  To be delighted with something means to accept it with all enthusiasm and pleasure.  To delight means to partake of the pleasure of something to its fullest measure.  What an encouragement it is to the weary sin-sick soul to know that God values our prayers more than we will ever understand.

My wife and I like to watch the Antiques Roadshow.  I have to admit, we watch it only to determine if we would sell what the appraiser was valuing.  “Sell it” is an often exclamation when we see an item that is either ugly or very valuable.  We get bored with it when too many pieces of art are consecutively appraised.  The most revealing of segments are then end takes.  That is where the show ends with very brief statements of what was brought to the show and how much it was worth.  Usually, there is a mixture of valueless pieces as well as moderately valuable pieces.  What is common is the reaction of these people to their evaluation.  Even if found to be not worth all that much, they still value them as though they were priceless heirlooms.  The artwork is so subjective, and it all depends on someone’s emotional tie to the piece.  It astounds us how much something can be worth much when the talent it took to produce it wasn’t that particularly profound.  The value is in the eye of the beholder.

Which brings me to my point.  As a child of God, many times we value our prayer much lower than the LORD values it.  Because we do, we do not faithfully pray.  After all, what could a holy God want with our prayers?  That is not the biblical position here.  As long as we strive to walk in obedience and remain humble, our prayers are a delight to the God who created us.  How special is that?  It matters not how eloquent they are.  It matters not how well thought out they are.  The heart is what matters to the LORD.  As I write this, the depth of this truth overwhelms me.  That God could value my prayer to the lever of delight is more than I can understand.