From My Mouth to God's Ear

I cry aloud with my voice to the LORD; I make supplication with my voice to the LORD. I pour out my complaint before Him; I declare my trouble before Him. Psalm 142:1,2 (New American Standard Bible)

I remember hearing sermons in the past referencing the fact that we have been crucified with Christ and are dead to sin. Illustrations were given of a dead corpse and how nothing could affect that corpse. I would walk away with the assumption that if I were truly “dead” to the things of this world nothing should have an affect on my thoughts, emotions, feelings, or moods. The words and actions of others would be incapable of affecting me. How far from the truth I was living!

I kept thinking something was wrong with me because I still had feelings, sorrows, and hurts. Ashamed to admit it to myself or God, I tried denying, burying, and ignoring the fact that life WAS affecting me. To me, being sad, lonely, down, or disturbed was unacceptable behavior. I lived with the fear that I was a disappointment to God because I still battled the negative responses to life. I wasn’t “dead” enough but very much alive with feelings, aches, and reactions.

The enemy had a wonderful time with my misunderstanding and misinterpretation of Scripture. He reveled in the fact that I missed the prayers of David in the Psalms. David was a man who knew how to express his true heart, feelings, and thoughts to God. He had complaints, troubles, heartache, fears, disappointments, anger, anguish, and a host of other things he freely brought to God. He knew how to give voice to the emotions within himself.

Charles Spurgeon said it well. “We do not tell our troubles to the Lord that He may see them, but that we may see Him. It is for our relief, not for His information, that we speak plainly to Him concerning our problems.” David knew such relief and the power of pouring his heart out to God. I, too, am learning the benefit and necessity of telling God when I am lonely, hurting, sad, fearful, uncertain, frustrated, and just out of sorts. For as soon as I get the words out, He begins to minister to me in profound ways.

Father, telling You what was really going on inside of me use to be a foreign concept. How You longed for me to find out the truth about this aspect of prayer. Thank you for hearing my cries for help. Amen.

He Will Shelter You - Kathy Troccoli
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgtu5dhqUYE&feature=related

Getting into God's Word and letting God's Word get into me one truth at a time.