Come with me into the presence of earnestness on the part of the king.

“I stretch forth my hands unto Thee” (Psalm 143:6).

David is not in a light conversation with the Lord. It is very intense. The stretching forth of his hands to the Lord is an expression of earnest prayer. It is offered by one who realizes that he or she has absolutely nowhere else to turn. That person reaches forth to the Lord, eager to discover the Lord’s plan and to receive His answer.

What a picture for a man I will call Lamar who read this passage in his devotions on the same morning he was going to stop in at his daughter’s home for a visit with her and with his little fifteen-month-old granddaughter. As he walked in and started up the stairs, there was little…I will call her Melissa Joy, dancing with joy and with her little arms outstretched because her grandpa had come! As soon as he bent to pick “MJ” up, he thought of this verse. Later he would say to the Lord, “As I reach out to You, Lord, may I have the same joy for You and Your will as Melissa Joy had for me this morning. Stretching out my hands unto You certainly has taken on new meaning to me, Lord.”

How about you, friend? Can you picture yourself as one who is stretching out your hands to the Lord?

When I pray, may I picture myself as a young child, Lord, who is actually stretching out my hands to You!