"Out of the depths I cry to you, LORD; Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.” - Psalm 130:1-2"
"When the Psalmists talked with God (King David, King Solomon, Moses among others), they were very frank and honest. They respected God and esteemed Him with the glory that He deserved and they were blunt and open at the same time. In this passage, the Psalmist is literally saying, "I'm in a deep, scary place, Lord! I'm crying out to you! Hear me! God, please hear my voice. Please tune me in and pay attention to my cry for help!" He is honest and real with God.
All throughout the Psalms, you will find people praying to God with their gloves off. They're not beating around the bush or trying to soften what they say to God. They tell Him exactly what's going on. Even to the point of expressing that they feel emotions of despair and abandonment! Are we supposed to do that with God? Aren't prayers meant to be tidy little sayings that we say to God while we hide what we're really thinking and feeling from Him? Absolutely not.
I once had the opportunity to talk with Leeland Mooring, the lead singer of the band Leeland. I asked him how he keeps a passion in His heart for the Gospel and the Lord every day. He replied by simply saying, "Prayer. Honest prayer. If I wake up in the morning without a passion for God then I tell Him that! Honest prayer will change your life."
God knows everything that is going on in our lives. He knows it all! He knows every thought in our heads and every feeling in our heart. We cannot hide anything from Him. And we should not try to do so when we're talking with Him. He knows the condition of our hearts and we ought to tell Him that condition and then ask for Him to do a work in our hearts so that we might have more faith, hope and love than we did before. Why do we try to hide things from the One who can make the change we need in our lives and in our hearts? Tell God about your problems, worries and frustrations. He listens and He cares and He will give good gifts to His children who ask (Matthew 7:11).
So, my challenge to you is to pray honestly with God for the rest of your life. Tell Him what's going on in your life and ask for Him to move in those sitiuations. At the same time, never forget to give Him the glory that He is due. As the Psalmists often did, end your prayers by looking to the Faithful One, knowing that He WILL work out for the good of those who love Him and have been called according to His purposes (Romans 8:28).
Take a look at how the Psalm above ends:
"Israel, put your hope in the LORD,
for with the LORD is unfailing love
and with him is full redemption.
He himself will redeem Israel
from all their sins." ~ Psalm 130:7-8
Pray with your gloves off today. And everyday for the rest of your life! Pray honestly about what's going on in your life and know that He listens and He cares."
(Note: This is not my work. This is the Passion Pursuit. I am simply making it available to any reader as well.)
"When the Psalmists talked with God (King David, King Solomon, Moses among others), they were very frank and honest. They respected God and esteemed Him with the glory that He deserved and they were blunt and open at the same time. In this passage, the Psalmist is literally saying, "I'm in a deep, scary place, Lord! I'm crying out to you! Hear me! God, please hear my voice. Please tune me in and pay attention to my cry for help!" He is honest and real with God.
All throughout the Psalms, you will find people praying to God with their gloves off. They're not beating around the bush or trying to soften what they say to God. They tell Him exactly what's going on. Even to the point of expressing that they feel emotions of despair and abandonment! Are we supposed to do that with God? Aren't prayers meant to be tidy little sayings that we say to God while we hide what we're really thinking and feeling from Him? Absolutely not.
I once had the opportunity to talk with Leeland Mooring, the lead singer of the band Leeland. I asked him how he keeps a passion in His heart for the Gospel and the Lord every day. He replied by simply saying, "Prayer. Honest prayer. If I wake up in the morning without a passion for God then I tell Him that! Honest prayer will change your life."
God knows everything that is going on in our lives. He knows it all! He knows every thought in our heads and every feeling in our heart. We cannot hide anything from Him. And we should not try to do so when we're talking with Him. He knows the condition of our hearts and we ought to tell Him that condition and then ask for Him to do a work in our hearts so that we might have more faith, hope and love than we did before. Why do we try to hide things from the One who can make the change we need in our lives and in our hearts? Tell God about your problems, worries and frustrations. He listens and He cares and He will give good gifts to His children who ask (Matthew 7:11).
So, my challenge to you is to pray honestly with God for the rest of your life. Tell Him what's going on in your life and ask for Him to move in those sitiuations. At the same time, never forget to give Him the glory that He is due. As the Psalmists often did, end your prayers by looking to the Faithful One, knowing that He WILL work out for the good of those who love Him and have been called according to His purposes (Romans 8:28).
Take a look at how the Psalm above ends:
"Israel, put your hope in the LORD,
for with the LORD is unfailing love
and with him is full redemption.
He himself will redeem Israel
from all their sins." ~ Psalm 130:7-8
Pray with your gloves off today. And everyday for the rest of your life! Pray honestly about what's going on in your life and know that He listens and He cares."
(Note: This is not my work. This is the Passion Pursuit. I am simply making it available to any reader as well.)
That's pretty sweet that you met Leeland! I really look up to his worship leading :)
ReplyDeleteOh no no no. I have been quoting people! I haven't been able to get on my computer to properly cite these posts. I will have to do that.. like.. now.
ReplyDelete