Psalm 141  David's prayer has two main focuses... first, that he would be acceptable to his Lord, and second, that he would be protected from the wicked.  Two very important prayer requests, that we don't always make part of our daily prayer times.

Verses 1-5a contain the requests that David brings for himself:
Lord, I'm calling to You, will You hear my voice?
My prayer is like an offering, I lift it up to You, may it be acceptable, holy, pure.
Lord,  guard what I say. Keep a lock on my mouth so that I do not offend You with my words.
Lord, keep a guard on my heart, keep me from desiring what is evil.
Lord, keep me from doing any wicked deeds.
Lord,  may I not even associate with any who might lead me into sin.
Lord, may I consider it a kindness when a righteous friend reproves me. May I not resent it but consider it "oil on my head".. a blessing.

Today I was reading in The Imitation of Christ, Chapter 19, called "Of the exercises of a good religious person"... quite a challenging title!  But, the main theme is about examining our "purpose" for living on a daily basis.
              "According to our purpose shall be the success of our spiritual profiting; and much diligence is necessary to him that will profit much. And if he that firmly purposeth often fail, what shall he do that seldom or but weakly purposeth anything?"

 In other words... if we want to live for the Lord, we need to be diligent to order our lives.... inside and out... "in word, deed, and thought" accordingly.  Daily.  Whatever way that we choose to do this is as individual as each person, the writer tells us, but, we need to do it!  Yes, it depends on God's grace.  Yes, God may bring interruptions of changes.  But if we start out in the morning with a fixed purpose to live for God, to serve Him only,  and to be ready and prepared for what He has planned, then that is good.  And, at the end of the day we review our words, deeds, and thoughts, we may find that we have offended someone and have need of forgiveness.  That is living with godly purpose. 

This is exactly what David's prayer is about, isn't it?  He is asking the Lord to help him live a godly life.  He is purposing in his heart to be pure and blameless before God, with His help.  What a wonderful purpose and a vital prayer!

Father,  I'm coming into Your Presence 

I'm lifting my prayers to You

I need Your grace and help;

Will You guard my words, Lord?

I give You control of my tongue. 

Will You guard my heart, Lord?

I desire Your will, Your righteousness, Your Kingdom.

Reign in my life today. 

Will You keep me from the evil one, Lord?

Don't let my open myself to any wickedness. 

Help me to accept correction and conviction, 

to confess and repent, 

to forgive and to be forgiven. 

Help me, Gracious God, to be diligent to purposely live for You

in all I say, do , and think, today. 

Amen. 

I think we are probably a little better at the second part of David's prayer: Stop the wicked, Lord.
You are my refuge.  You can make them fall into their own traps.  You can bring me through safely.
We may not be in the kind of situations that David found himself in, but we still need to pray like this.  There is wickedness all around us.. hatred, abuse, oppression, etc.  We need to pray that those who are filled with evil will fall into their own snares and that we will not.  We need to pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ who are being persecuted and killed for their beliefs.  We need to pray for the Church to boldly preach the Gospel of Peace, so that all will come to know that they also can find refuge in our Mighty God.

Lord, once again my request is like that of the disciples, teach me to pray... in Jesus' Name, amen.