The Christian Hedonist’s Playbook (Part 9)
Last time, we looked at how the book of Psalms can powerfully change our prayer life. Now, let’s examine one specific example. You might be familiar with John Piper’s prayer acronym IOUS. What you might not realize is that this extremely helpful model—which can be found in his book When I Don’t Desire God (pages 57-59)—is based on the Psalms. Let’s look at the acrostic. “I” stands for Incline , and is based on Psalm 119:36: “Incline my heart to Your testimonies, and not to covetousness.” Piper writes, “The first thing my soul needs is an inclination toward God and his Word.” “O” stands for Open . This comes from Psalm 119:18: “Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law.” Piper says, “I need to have the eyes of my heart opened so that when my inclination leads me to the Word, I see what is really there, and not just my own ideas.” “U” stands for Unite . The supporting verse here is Psalm 86:11: “Unite my heart to fear Your name.” Piper puts it like this: “I am concern...