Listen to my words, Lord,
consider my lament.
Hear my cry for help,
my King and my God,
for to you I pray. – Psalm 5:1,2 NIV
Think about your prayer life for a moment. Now, stop thinking about how often you pray (or don’t as the case may be). Instead think about the times you actually do pray. Is it easy for you to “cry out” to God? Or is it difficult? When you pray, do you “lament?” Do you complain to God? Or, do you hold a pep-rally in an attempt to motivate God into acting in the way you think best? Maybe you wimpishly “just ask God, just please, just, if you want, just please God…” Or maybe you exert your assumed authority over Him, and command Him, via the Holy Spirit of course, to do this, or do that? Do you find it easy to rejoice in God? To celebrate victories with Him? To give thanks to Him? Can you come to God in prayer when life is difficult or when life is easy? In other words, are you honest with God when you pray? Are you even honest with yourself when you pray?
I ask all these questions hoping you might reflect on your prayer life. In a sense, that is what the Psalms are: a prayer life. You could even say they are The Prayer Life: the God-given, Divinely inspired prayer book. Throughout the Psalms we are given glimpses into the private inner workings of prayer—sometimes such intimate details that we almost feel uncomfortable listening in.
Lately, something has been stirring in my heart regarding prayer and I think it is demonstrated again and again in the Psalms. It is this idea of honesty. I think for a long time, I prayed prayers that I thought God wanted to hear. I think sometimes I still do. I think for a long time, I prayed prayers that I thought other people needed to hear. I think sometimes I still do. But more and more, I am learning how to be honest with God in prayer. I am learning what it means to be vulnerable and upset, frustrated and confused; as well as excited, joyful and thankful to God—but without pretense or pretending. I am learning to be honest with myself through the practice of being honest with God. And this a great freedom.
I pray as you read the psalms and encounter unexpected prayers, as your life takes unexpected turns, that you are able, like the psalmist, to be honest with yourself and with God about what you’re thinking, what you’re feeling and just why exactly you feel compelled to pray in the first place.
But let all who take refuge in you be glad;
let them ever sing for joy. – Psalm 5:11 NIV
— Chaz H.