Psalm 140:8 
“Do not grant the wicked their desires, LORD; 
do not let their plans succeed.” (NIV)

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This is a good prayer. I pray more often for my success than for a wicked person’s failure. It sounds like I probably need to try more of the latter in addition to the former. How about you? 

Now, it’s wise to notice that it says “Wicked.” It doesn’t say “Person bothering me at this moment.” I do have people who bother me from time to time, but most of the time they’re not wicked. Mean? Perhaps. Rotten to the core? That is a possibility. In a flat out in a bad mood? Definitely. 

How should we pray for wicked people? David gives us a thought to consider. He says, “Do not grant the wicked their desires.” Don’t let them have what they want. What they want hurts other people. It harms relationships. It could bring all manner of discord and destruction. 

Those are plans we do not want to succeed. 

What success do we want to see? 

• We want to see wicked minds changed. 
• We want to see wicked hearts redeemed. 
• We want to see wicked ways turned into winsome ways. 

These are the kinds of prayers we need to take time to pray. 

These are the kinds of prayers we need to make time to pray. 

Here is a song to help you learn how to pray this way: [https://bit.ly/431ttQf](https://bit.ly/431ttQf)

Ollie the Border Collie and I are headed out to walk and pray. This is one of my favorite ways to start the day. It’s a pretty good way to end the day. We can pray like this any time of day, every day. 

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I will pray for God’s good success and for the failure of every wicked scheme. 

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Our Father, do not grant the wicked their desires. Do not let their plans succeed. Instead, intervene with your goodness and grace, your mercy and kindness. Bring peace, healing, hope, and the good life where the evil one would sow discord, pain, and destruction. Amen. 

A Note: I use the dictation app Wispr Flow to write these devotionals. This is a wonderful tool. However, it has not yet learned to use a capital G or a lowercase g when referring to God. Sometimes it gets it right. Sometimes it does not. I tell you this only because I don’t want you to think I’m psychotic. I’m confident the app will learn after repeated use. Until then, smile and know that I am not that great of a grammar and syntax failure.