Psalm 139 is one of my favorite chapters in the Bible. It is beautiful. It is poetic. It is amazing!

Typically, I get to verses 13 and 14 and camp out there for awhile:

¹³ For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;  your works are wonderful,  I know that full well.

I love that reminder that God created me wonderfully and perfectly according to His divine specifications. No mistakes. No errors. No duplicates.

Occasionally, I settle on verses 7-10 and swim in the truth that God is always with me.

⁷ Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
⁸ If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
⁹ If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.

I love that reminder that no matter where I go or what I do, He never leaves me.

But lately, God keeps prompting me to camp out at the end of this chapter rather than on my more “favorite” verses.

²³ Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
²⁴ See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

To be honest, this isn’t a camp ground where I want to set up tent. These verses are a little more uncomfortable for me than the reminder that I’m “fearfully and wonderfully made.” These verses are an invitation for God to examine me for any area – large, small, insignificant, or secret – to see if there is anywhere that I’m not being fully obedient to His word.

Really, God? Anywhere? Thanks, but no thanks!

But just when I was ready to tune out His voice and pretend I didn’t hear His gentle prodding to ask Him to find offense with me, He spoke again. The point of praying this scary, bold prayer is not so that God can pick me apart and condemn me and criticize me to the point where I feel like a complete failure. The point is so that He can lead me in the way everlasting. So that He can fix it!

He does not ask us to pray boldly for a spotlight on our filth without the promise that He can clean it.

So, yes, it’s a bold, scary prayer.

But we have a bold and loving God.

Q: What bold prayer has God asked you to pray lately?