A Prayer of Flourishing and Finishing Well

Psalm 92

No heart has so much joy as that which abides in the Lord Jesus. Fellowship with the stem begets fertility in the branches. If a man abide in Christ he brings forth much fruit.

Charles Spurgeon

If we could look into the future or fast forward 10 years, 20 years, 30 years from now, what do you hope your life looked like? What do you wish you would be doing for the Lord? What character qualities do you desire to see in yourself? What are you doing now to encourage the spiritual growth you desire for yourself?

Psalm 92 gives a description of a righteous man. He is one who flourishes like a palm tree, growing like a cedar in Lebanon, planted in the house of the Lord, flourishing in the courts of God, yielding fruit in old age. This description is full of vitality. Flourishing means to grow luxuriantly, to thrive, or to be in a state of activity or production (Merriam-Webster). The righteous man, the one who lives in close proximity to the Lord, will be flourishing and bearing fruit even to his old age. The psalmist describes him as “ever full of sap and green.” It’s the picture of stalwart, vigorous, abundant living for the Lord because he is living near the Lord. If we desire maximum fruitfulness for our Savior that continues even to our old age, we must abide in Him and grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior.

God had given us means of grace, ways in which we can “work out our own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). Honestly evaluate yourself with these questions and seek to commit your ways to the Lord so that your testimony years from now would be that you are flourishing, bearing fruit even in old age, ever vigorous and luxuriant for your King.

Are you committed and serving in a local, Christ-honoring church?
Do you regularly take in God’s Word?
How is your prayer life?
Are you memorizing and meditating on His Word?
Are you striving to live obediently to what His Word says?

These are just a few questions that can start us thinking about how we can be thriving and flourishing in our walk with Christ. Let’s pray through Psalm 92 that God, by His grace, would cause us “to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ” (Ephesians 4:15).

The Lord makes me glad

92:1-4 It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night, to the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre. For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy.

Let’s pray:

▫️Because it is good to give thanks to the Lord, we would give thanks in all things (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Throughout our lives, we would grow in gratitude to our King. What can we be thankful for today? Can we thank the Lord for His work in us through a particular hardship?

▫️We would give the Lord the praise due His name, because He has called us from darkness into His marvelous light and granted us eternal life through Christ His Son. What else can we praise Him for?

▫️Our days from morning until night would show forth the steadfast love and faithfulness of the Lord. Our lips would speak of His great kindness toward us in Christ Jesus and we would ever be growing in our trust in His steadfast love and faithfulness.

▫️We would rejoice in the Lord always (Philippians 4:4). He would gladden our hearts in Him and our songs of joy would increase and deepen the longer we walk with Him.

His works are great

92:5-9 How great are your works, O Lord! Your thoughts are very deep! The stupid man cannot know; the fool cannot understand this: that though the wicked sprout like grass and all evildoers flourish, they are doomed to destruction forever; but you, O Lord, are on high forever. For behold, your enemies, O Lord, for behold, your enemies shall perish; all evildoers shall be scattered.

Let’s pray:

▫️We would marvel at the great works of the Lord. The longer we study His ways, the more we would be in awe of our great God.

▫️We would recognize His deep and profound thoughts and ways and we would increasingly trust His wisdom for guiding our paths.

▫️As we age, and as we continue to study His Word, we would understand more how thoroughly His enemies have been defeated, and that He rules and reigns in the heavens and the earth. This knowledge would increase our confidence in His sovereignty in our lives.

The righteous flourish

92:10-15 But you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox; you have poured over me fresh oil. My eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies; my ears have heard the doom of my evil assailants. The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God. They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green, to declare that the Lord is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

Let’s pray:

▫️We would abide in Christ, and His Word would abide in us and we would bear much fruit for the glory of His name, even to our old age.

▫️We would flourish wherever He has placed us and in whatever situation is in our lives, because we are planted, rooted, and built up in Him. Because He is our source and our life, we would bear fruit even in times of drought.

▫️When we feel the pain of life, we would submit to His pruning hand and we would actually bear more fruit and our roots would be established more firmly in the Lord.

▫️When we get to the end of our lives, our testimony would be that we persisted and continued to live vigorously and flourished for His glory, to point others to Him, to show the steadfastness and settledness of a life that is planted, rooted, connected, and nourished by our Father.

▫️To the end of our days we would declare the uprightness of God and that He is our rock.

May the Lord do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, for His glory and our good. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Photo credit to c_zinn

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