God is great, God is good, and it’s OK to pray

When I was a young boy growing up, I was taught to pray before meals. As our family gathered at the dinner table, we would acknowledge our dependence on God and our gratitude for his daily care, by giving thanks for the food God had provided. My father would lead us all in prayer, and when he had finished, I would add my child’s prayer of thanks with these words: “God is great, God is good, and we thank him for our food.”

I thought about the words of that prayer last week when I was reading Psalm 139. That psalm is a wonderful testimony to the greatness and the goodness of God. The psalm writer speaks about God’s greatness in His knowledge of everything, and His presence everywhere. And God’s goodness is seen in His personal care for us. God’s knowledge and presence is not only about the world He created, but of us and every aspect of our lives.