As for me, I shall call upon God, and the LORD will save me.
Evening and morning and at noon, I will complain and murmur, And He will hear my voice -- Psalm 55:16-17 (NASB)
I have heard people say, “I don’t know how to pray.”
Everybody knows how to whine and grumble and complain. That will do. The key is realizing God hears your voice. I am reminded of the scene in that excellent Robert Duvall film The Apostle where Sonny is upstairs at his mother’s house, shouting at God to the point that the neighbors are awakened and call to protest. His mother answers and says something to the effect of, “Sometimes he prays and sometimes he yells. Tonight he’s yellin’.”
God hears us. He hears me when I cuss and scream about something. He hears me when I cry out in anguish and despair. He hears me when I just whisper a prayer. He hears me when I subtly mislead my fellowman. Oops. He hears me if I am on my knees, on my butt, on my feet, in the closet, or under the bed.
Paul tells us to “pray without ceasing”. Go ahead. When you have a broken heart, put it in words. God will hear you. When you are unhappy about the state of the world, tell God how you really feel. Tell the Lord when you think you’ve been treated unfairly, when you feel shortchanged and shut out. One thing is certain: you are not telling Him anything He doesn’t already know.
The concept that God already knows about my problem may be my biggest hindrance to prayer and faith. I mean, if God cared about my situation, why did He let it happen in the first place? If He is aware of it, why do I need to pray about it?
Prayer is not giving God information. Let me repeat that. Prayer is not informing God about the situation. God may speak to you, but He will never say, “Thanks for letting Me know about that. I had no idea what was going on.” He knows already!
Instead, I am to think of prayer as a concrete expression of my dependence upon my Father. It is recognition of His love and power, His mercy and sovereignty, and His care for me, His child. The very act of praying is an act of faith. To pray is to believe that it will have some effect on me or upon my situation. Throw out the idea that you aren’t praying “in faith”. Of course you are, by definition.
(Caveat: the exception being if I were praying to be heard by or to impress the people around me rather than the Almighty. I don’t count that as prayer. That’s acting. Or politics.)
Another thing that prayer does is open my heart toward God. As I am praying or complaining and murmuring, I have opened the door of my heart willingly. While the grumblings pour out, the Spirit pours in. The Bible tells us that Jesus stands at the door and knocks, and if we will open the door – if we will pray – He will enter in and commune with us. He will give us understanding, peace, joy, and strength.
If prayer is so simple, yet so powerful and beneficial, the question is not why would we pray, but why would we ever want to cease from praying? The next time you feel inclined to whine and gripe about something, I encourage you to go ahead, just acknowledge that your complaint is offered to the Lord Himself. Don’t worry about your wording any more than if you were venting to your best friend. You are.
What a friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and grief to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Ev'rything to God in prayer!
Oh, what peace we often forfeit,
Oh what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Ev'rything to God in prayer!
Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged,
Take it to the Lord in prayer:
Can we find a friend so faithful
Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus Knows our every weakness,
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Are we weak and heavy laden,
Cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Saviour, still our refuge;
Take it to the Lord in prayer:
Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?
Take it to the Lord in prayer;
In His arms He'll take and shield thee;
Thou wilt find a solace there.
9 comments:
This is such an island of peace in the midst of the political storm. A wonderful reminder. I do thank you.
Good post, Mushroom!
Key phrase, to me: "...just acknowledge that your complaint is offered to the Lord Himself."
Thank you Lord for letting me rant, even at my most foul.
I needed this one today; thanks, Mushroom.
Hey, guys, thanks for stopping by.
Over the weekend something happened that was painful for me. It literally made me physically ill. I was complaining to God, but I felt bad about it. The thought in my mind was that God isn't going to pay any attention to this kind of bitchin' and moanin'. I ran across this verse and meditated on it a while. Then I went back to bitchin' and moanin', but with more confidence
Duvall's Sonny and a hymn I know by heart mixed with your insights yields good wisdom. I guess I can now quit beatin' up on myself for yelling "JEEEZUS" just before thanking him for watchin' out for my careless a**.
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A great post, and one I needed to hear. I was going to comment this morning, but I got the day started, kept moving from one thing to another, and only now ended up back here. I get the gut feeling from your posts, Mushroom. When I read peoples' writing on Christianity there is some sort of a resonance meter inside me that seems to tell me to stay and listen, or move on. If it's too cuddly, warm, soft, and easy, the needle swings off the mark, and I move on. Similarly if it's too severe, unyielding, and discomforting the needle swings in the other direction, and I move on. Your take on matters seems to fall right in the center zone. Sometimes you make me squirm a little, but just enough to know that a nerve has been hit that needed hitting, and I'm prompted to move forward. Other times, like today, your writing strikes a chord of reassurance that encourages me to keep moving forward. Thanks for what you are doing.
JWM
Prayer evolves and is part of evolution -- I think that's a good point. As our kids grow up, our conversations changes. As we live with our spouses, what we say and how we say it grows and matures. God, as the song says, He don't ever change, but we do.
Thanks, John. I know what you mean about the meter. The warm fuzzy stuff -- Lewis commented on people who never lose their childish "Sunday School" understanding of the Biblical metaphors and pictures.
This is strictly my own personal experience, but there was a time when I had a much harsher tone, and I think I was, at the same time, a much more carnal Christian -- under the control of the old nature.
By the way, a good example of being In The Groove would be Walt's posts from Kingsley -- especially yesterday and today.
You are my spiritual teacher. Thank you.
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