Prevaliling Prayer Sermon Part 4

Psalm 13
How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and every day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?
Look on me and answer, O LORD my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;
But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.
I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me.

Prayers of Hurting:

There are also times when we are just hurting more than words can express. Maybe it is physical pain or maybe it is emotional pain. A nagging pain that just won’t go away. The loss of a loved one. Disappointment with where you are at in life. Ridicule of your faith by coworkers or family members. A general feeling of futility or worthlessness. A feeling that you are always on the short end of the stick. A loss of faith because of your situation. The Psalmist knows what that is like. He cries out, “How long?” How long must I suffer like this? How long must I always be the loser? How long must I go about hurting? How long?

I hurt my back about a year ago. Elijah was only a couple of months old, and as I bent down to pick him up, my back just gave out. It hurt so much that I almost dropped him right there. Fortunately, I didn’t. I fought off the pain and laid him back on the floor. It hurt so badly. I had to call Brett Morton over to help me. I could not walk, pick up a 15 lbs baby, or do anything except lay on the couch. I was in agony, but looking back, I don’t think the pain was the worst part of that whole ordeal. The worst part was how it affected my psyche. I felt useless. For a while, I really felt like I was good for nothing except for keeping the couch from blowing away. I have succeeded in most everything I have tried (except golf), so this was a new experience for me. I like to think that if I am not good at something, I will leave it to those that are. But what was I going to do? Stop being a father and a husband? It was depressing. The pain and hurt was not just physical, but emotional as well. While I was laid out on my back, I had a lot of time to think. And a lot of time to put into practice what this James passage tells us.

James encourages us to pray when we hurt. The psalms teach us to pray what we are feeling. If you are angry, shout to God. If you are depressed, express those feelings to Him. If you think that God is to blame for your state in life, confront Him. God can handle it. He can handle our doubts. He can handle our pain. He can handle our hurting. God is not afraid of our suffering. He will not turn away. Though we might not get answers, I believe that we will get comfort. We will get reassurance. We will be reminded of His faithfulness.

It’s cyclical. Notice it ends right where it starts—giving back praise to God. At the end of that psalm after crying out to God, after asking how long, the psalmist writes: “But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me.” We can ask “How long” but we might not get an answer. Instead, I believe God gives us that peace, that “Shalom” that surpasses all understanding.