Voice Your Complaint
As we talk about persevering in prayer, let's turn to Psalm 64, where David keeps praying through his difficult time. He gives voice to his prayers, and he doesn't stay silent. In verse 1 we read him saying "Hear me, my God, as I voice my complaint."
He doesn't hide his complaint. He doesn't pretend he has no complaints. He voices his complaint in prayer.
This is hard for some of us who have developed a picture of God as an angry judgemental Father who doesn't want to be disturbed. I wonder if you see God that way, to some degree? Perhaps your father never had time for your complaints, and you were scared to approach him. So now you're terrified of God, if you're honest, because you know He is holy and has high standards, and you know that you haven't matched up. You pretend all is well instead of voicing your complaint to God - after all, He's God so your small problems must be insignificant to Him, right?
Wrong. Very wrong!
David voices his complaints to his God, so should we.
God is Big Enough for Your Anger
Rusty Freeman, a Nazarene minister in the States, tells the following story about being diagnosed with cancer: "After the initial shock and numbness wore off, one of my first reactions to cancer and the pain of chemotherapy was anger at God. One night I shared with a minister friend what I was feeling. He didn't scold. He didn't try to defend God. Rather, he drew deep from the biblical understanding of God and said, 'Rusty, it's been my experience that God is a big enough God for you to be angry at Him and for Him to still love you.' Doesn't David find the same thing in the Psalms when he cries out in anger to God? It was a great comfort to me that God was still loving me even when I, like a hurting child, was lashing out at Him."
Do you need to hear this today? That God is a big enough God for you to be angry at Him and for Him to still love you?
Don't Pretend With God
Friends, tell God about it. Tell Him what angers you. Tell Him why you are struggling. Don't pretend it's all okay when it's not - what a waste of energy to try and hide your true feelings from God!
This is why some people find a lot of worth in prayer journalling, by the way. You take your pen and you write to God in your journal, giving expression to your complaints. It's very therapeutic to get it out - and doubly therapeutic to direct it to God when you do.
I believe that it's wrong to withhold your complaints from God. It's so much better to keep praying, even if it means expressing your emotions to the full.
God invites us to voice our complaints to Him honestly, not to hide our struggles behind pretence. Bring your anger, frustration, and questions to God today, trusting that He is big enough to handle your honesty and still love you.