2Sa 12:16 David therefore sought God on behalf of the child. And David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground.
In the next few devotionals I will share 5 lessons on prayer from this passage. First, God already told David that his son was going to die, but that did not stop him from praying. To David, it was not over until it was over. As long as his son was still alive there was hope for mercy therefore he prayed.
God gives us leave to be earnest with Him in prayer for particular blessings, from a confidence in His power and general mercy. Our motivation and drive to pray is because we believe that God is able (Gods can). This is the confidence we have in God, the outcome is His will. “God can” is the ground we pray by faith, believing God for what we need. It’s one thing to believe, it’s another thing to ask because you believe, that is confidence (reliance). 1Jn 5:14 “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us”. Though we have no particular promise to build upon, we hold on to the reliability of our God who is full of grace and mercy.