Psalm 86 Feb. 18 A Prayer by David.  1Hear, Yahweh, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. 2Preserve my soul, for I am Godly. You, my God, save Your servant who trusts in You. 3Be merciful to me Lord, for I call to You all day long. 4Bring joy to the soul of Your servant, for to You, Lord, do I lift up my soul. 5For You, Lord, are good and ready to forgive; abundant in grace to all those who call on You. 6Hear, Yahweh, my prayer; listen to the voice of my petitions. 7In the day of my trouble I will call on You, for You will answer me. 8There is no one like You among the gods, Lord, nor any deeds like Your deeds. 9All nations You have made will come and worship before You, Lord. They shall glorify Your name. 10For You are great, and do wondrous things, You alone are God. 11Teach me Your way, Yahweh; I will walk in Your truth. Make my heart undivided to fear Your name. 12I will praise You, Lord my God, with my whole heart; I will glorify Your name forever. 13For Your grace is great toward me, You have delivered my soul from the lowest Sheol. 14God, the proud have risen up against me; a company of violent men have sought after my soul, and they don’t hold regard for You before them. 15But You, Lord, are a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in grace and truth. 16Turn to me, and have mercy on me! Give Your strength to Your servant, save the son of Your handmaid. 17Show me a sign of Your goodness, that those who hate me may see it and be shamed, because You, Yahweh, have helped me and comforted me.   

Commentary

86:3 There are verses which speak of many daily prayers as being just one prayer (86:3,6; 88:1,2); prayer is a way / spirit of life, not just something specific which occurs for a matter of minutes each day. The commands to "pray without ceasing" simply can't be literally obeyed (1 Thess. 5:17). "Watch and pray always" (Lk. 21:36) in the last days likewise connects prayer with watchfulness, which is an attitude of mind rather than something done on specific occasions. This is not to say that prayer in no sense refers to formal, specific prayer. Evidently it does, but it is only a verbal crystallization of our general spirit of life.
86:14 God of course knew all this, but part of the healing therapy of prayer is that we verbalize our situations and tell God about them.