Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!
– Psalm 57:5
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!
– Psalm 57:11
I invite you to hear in these two verses that repeat in Psalm 57, the heart of prayer, specifically as Jesus taught us to pray. Think about the Lord’s Prayer. How does it start? Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name in all the earth. Hallowed be your name cause your name to be made known as holy, as glorious, as mighty and merciful and loving, and all the things you are God cause the world to know who you are. And this is Psalm 57:5 and 11. Be exalted. Oh God, above the heavens. Let your glory be over all the earth. And I just want you to think today and for us to pray together in light of this driving ambition in prayer, think about how this verse summarizes what drives our every prayer.
Psalm 57:11 teaches us to seek God’s glory in every prayer.
Just think about anything you or I might pray for today. Or ask God for today. It all ends in this purpose for God’s glory. As we pray for things in our lives… We’re asking God to help us in this way and that way for his glory. As we’re praying for things in other people’s lives… We’re praying that God would glorify himself by providing in this way or that way.
As we pray, even in confession of sin, “God forgive us for your glory.” As we pray for God’s leadership in our lives, we’re praying, “God to lead us for your glory.” And so I just want you to think about how your every prayer ends in this desire for your glory. Oh God, for the hollowing of your name in my life, in my family, in my church, in the world. Just let’s pray and as we do, see how it all culminates in God receiving glory.
Oh God, we pray in light of your Word in Psalm 57:5 and 11, in light of your command Jesus on how to pray. Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name. We pray that you would cause your glory to be made known through our lives today through the way we think. Glorify yourself through what we desire. We pray that we would desire your glory above all, even more than we desire our circumstances to change.
Psalm 57:11 challenges us to prioritize God’s glory over personal gain.
We pray that you would be glorified in our circumstances, whatever they are. God, we pray that you would be glorified in our every word today, that you would be glorified oh God in our every action, our every interaction with others. Help us to glorify you with the way we love others, care for others, and speak to others. God help us to glorify you with the way we speak about others when they’re not around.
Help us to glorify you in every text we send or email we send or decision we make. God help us to glorify you with the way we use our phones today. God, help us to glorify you with what we put into our minds today. Help us to glorify you with the way we share the gospel today. God, help us to glorify you in all these ways and more. We pray for the hallowing of your name through our lives and others’ lives. Oh God, we pray for people who have all kinds of needs around us. God glorify yourself by providing for their needs, by helping them in all the ways they need so that they might see and enjoy and others might see your glory through the help you provide. God, we pray for this in the world. Let your glory be over all the earth.
God, we pray for your glory to spread to the ends of the earth.
Prayer for the Rawal People
Lord, we pray specifically today for the Rawal people of Northern Northwestern, India, this Hindi-speaking people group of 200,000, most of whom have no knowledge of the gospel. God cause your glory to be made known among the Rawal. Please, oh God, we pray for this. Hallowed be your name among the Rawal. Hallowed be the name of Jesus. May the Rawal people exalt you as their Savior. Oh God, we pray that our driving ambition today and everything we think, say, do, and pray would be Psalm 57:11. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth! We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder of Radical, an organization that makes Jesus known among the nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Don’t Hold Back, and How to Read the Bible.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
