Psalm 32:7

Devotional Thoughts

By Gary Wilkerson

In a recent devotional, I wrote about the power of petitioning prayer. Today I want to talk about something even more powerful. As you’re petitioning, you’re crying out, asking God for favor for power, for breakthrough. As that petition has worked its way into your heart and mind, it has worked its way into your faith; you’re going to come out of petition and into what I call proclamation.

You will be proclaiming breakthroughs — declaring what God has said in His Word, “Thus saith the Lord.”

You will be proclaiming that God has heard your cry and it’s time to get up off your knees. Not to stop praying but to say to God, “I’ve laid it all out before you. I’ve brought my grievances to you hundreds of times, just as David did, and there is no more complaint in my heart. In its place is a strong and powerful assurance that it is well with my soul. You do all things well and I will be a victor! I will overcome! You are for me, not against me.

“This sickness in my body is gone! The financial stress and chaos I’ve been living in is behind me and I’m moving into a new realm of faith. My prodigal son is coming home. My prodigal daughter is receiving Jesus.”

You are moving in a new direction, away from a petitioning cry of, “Will You help me, please?” You are now firmly standing on His Word, believing that His promises are always true and proclaiming with confidence, “God is faithful to His Word. He’s not going to forsake me or leave me.”

Once you get into that proclamation, you begin to pray in a different way. Just as David prayed, “You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance” (Psalm 32:7).