A Prayer for Provision

Psalm 104

Great is Thy faithfulness

Morning by morning new mercies I see
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided

Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me

“Great is Thy Faithfulness”

Throughout the pages of Scripture, the evidence that God provides for His people is repeated over and over again. Even in the midst of Israel’s rebellion, the Lord said to them, “It is I who answer and look after you” (Hosea 14:8). His tender care for His own has continued through history and reaches to each one of His children today. God is even now looking after each one of us, and He knows exactly what we need before we even ask (Matthew 6:8).

“Psalm 104 is a hymn that celebrates God as Creator and Sustainer of all life on earth” (Longman). Because He is Creator and Sustainer, God says, “every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills”(Psalm 50:10), and in fact the entire earth is the Lord’s. There is no need we could conceive that our God does not have the resources to meet. He can do exceedingly abundantly above all that we could ask or even think (Ephesians 3:20).

We serve a very great God (Psalm 104:1) who set the earth on its foundations and set mountains and valleys in the places He appointed for them (104:5,8-9). He makes springs that give drink to every beast of the field and causes grass to grow and brings forth food from the earth (104:14). He places boundaries on the seas and fills them with creatures great and small. All look to Him to give them their food (104:27). He opens His hand and they are filled with good things. “Here is divine liberality with its open hand filling needy creatures till they want no more: and here is divine omnipotence feeding a world by simply opening its hand” (Spurgeon). No wonder the psalmist cries, “Bless the Lord, O my soul!” Such a great God, who upholds the world simply by His powerful word (Hebrews 1:3) and feeds the world by simply opening His hand. This is the God who cares for us and is looking after us. His tender care will not provide for beasts and yet forsake His children. As He cares for even the smallest sparrow, He cares even more abundantly for us (Luke 12:7).

But we must recognize and submit to His wise governing of our lives. What we see as a need or what we think must be provided may not be God’s purpose for us or given at the time we deem necessary. He knows the end from the beginning. He knows what we truly need and how He will orchestrate all the tiny details of our lives for our good and His glory. “Remember this, had any other condition been better for you than the one in which you are, divine love would have put you there” (Spurgeon). He will do what is best…always.

Let’s pray through Psalm 104 bringing all our needs to God our Provider, trusting His wise providence in our lives.

Knowledge of the Lord

104:1-4 Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, you are very great! You are clothed with splendor and majesty, covering yourself with light as with a garment, stretching out the heavens like a tent. He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters; he makes the clouds his chariot; he rides on the wings of the wind; he makes his messengers winds, his ministers a flaming fire.

Lord, I pray:

▫️I would know You intimately. Through all Your hand has provided for me, I pray I would see how great You are.

▫️You are clothed with splendor and majesty, covering Yourself with light as with a garment. Penetrate into the darkest parts of my life and bring life and light.

▫️Your greatness, splendor, and might would far outweigh the needs in my life. Seeing You for who You are would put my heart at rest in the face of the lack in my life.

▫️The removing or withholding of certain comforts would reveal to me if there are any rival gods in my heart, and I would forsake all those and cling to You with an undivided heart (T. Keller’s sermon: angry enough to die).

Trust in the place He has appointed

104:5-9 He set the earth on its foundations, so that it should never be moved. You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. At your rebuke they fled; at the sound of your thunder they took to flight. The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place that you appointed for them. You set a boundary that they may not pass, so that they might not again cover the earth.

Lord, I pray:

▫️As You have set the earth on its foundation so that it should never be moved, You provide me with Yourself as the rock and refuge of my life so that I will not be shaken. Help me to stand firmly upon the Rock wherever Your providence has placed me.

▫️The mountains and valleys reside in the place You have appointed for them. Give me Your peace to dwell in the place You have appointed for me. I know You are not capricious or cruel, rather You are kind and benevolent and if there was any situation better for me than the one I am in, You would have placed me there.

▫️You set boundaries in creation and in my life. My difficulties will not exceed those boundaries You have set. You are reigning over all the parts of my life. Give me confidence that You are and will provide all I need in the vocation, family, church, trial, diagnosis, or _______ that You have ordained.

Contentment

104:10-13 You make springs gush forth in the valleys; they flow between the hills; they give drink to every beast of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst. Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell; they sing among the branches. From your lofty abode you water the mountains; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.

Lord, I pray:

▫️Your sovereign rule extends to the springs that flow in the valleys and the hills. You provide drink for every beast of the field. Your tender care will not provide for beasts and yet forsake Your children. As You care for even the smallest sparrow, You care even more abundantly for me.

▫️Increase my contentment in You through this time where I feel I lack _________. I would learn to be content in whatever circumstance I am. I would know how to get along with humble means, and I would know how to live in prosperity. Whether being filled or hungry, or having abundance or suffering need, I would learn the secret of being content through Your strengthening power (Philippians 4:11-13.

▫️I would believe that You are able to make all grace abound to me, that always having all sufficiency in everything, I would have abundance for every good deed (2 Corinthians 9:8).

Daily provisions

104:14-23 You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man’s heart. The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted. In them the birds build their nests; the stork has her home in the fir trees. The high mountains are for the wild goats; the rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers. He made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows its time for setting. You make darkness, and it is night, when all the beasts of the forest creep about. The young lions roar for their prey, seeking their food from God. When the sun rises, they steal away and lie down in their dens. Man goes out to his work and to his labor until the evening.

Lord, I pray:

▫️You would give us this day our daily bread (Matthew 6:11).

▫️You cause grass to grow for the animals and plants for men to cultivate. You provide food from the earth and wine to gladden our hearts. Provide my daily needs and strengthen my heart as I look to You to provide _______.

▫️You rule over the sun and moon, day and night, so I know that You rule over even things like the vegetables growing in the garden, the side job worked to help provide for the family, the economy, grocery prices, medical bills, and anything else that affects my life and meets or creates need. Please meet my needs today.

▫️Help prosper the work of my hands and give me a good return for my labor.

▫️I would not be anxious for my life as to what I shall eat, or what I shall drink, nor for what I will put on my body. You know all I need and You even feed the birds of the air, and I am far more valuable to You than the birds. Help me not to be anxious for tomorrow or anxious about ________ (Matthew 6:25-34).

▫️My needs are:_______, _______, and _______. Please supply each one according to Your riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).

His wisdom and His Spirit

104:24-30 O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. Here is the sea, great and wide, which teems with creatures innumerable, living things both small and great. There go the ships, and Leviathan, which you formed to play in it. These all look to you, to give them their food in due season. When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things. When you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust. When you send forth your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.

Lord, I pray:

▫️How manifolds are Your works! In wisdom You have made all things. Likewise, in wisdom You are orchestrating and ordaining every thing in my life. I am looking to You to give all I need in the time I need it. Grant me Your wisdom to know how and when to act or when to be still.

▫️Please open Your hand to me and fill my life with good things. Every good and perfect gift is from You, and in You there is no variation or change like shifting shadows (James 1:17).

▫️Send forth Your Spirit and renew a steadfast spirit within me. As I walk through this time waiting for Your provision and wisdom, help me to walk in step with Your Spirit yielding myself to His direction.

Rejoicing in what God provides

104:31-35 May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works, who looks on the earth and it trembles, who touches the mountains and they smoke! I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being. May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord. Let sinners be consumed from the earth, and let the wicked be no more! Bless the Lord, O my soul! Praise the Lord!

Lord, I pray:

▫️While I wait and watch expectantly for You to act on my behalf, I would sing praise to You and find all my satisfaction in You alone.

▫️You would get the glory in my life, in plenty or in need. I would glorify You by my trust in You. When You provide, I would have the eyes to see and the heart to rejoice in Your perfect provision.

▫️May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, my strength and my Redeemer (Psalm 19:14).

▫️My soul would bless You at all times.

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 milada_vigerova

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