“Listen to my words, Lord, Consider my sighing. Listen to the sound of my cry for help, my King and my God, For to You I pray.” Psalm 5:1-2
I was recently talking with my sweet stepmother about our respective ongoing physical woes. She recently injured her back and has slowly and steadily been on the path back to the golf course—I mean, recovery. We shared how we are praying for one another…for medical team wisdom, for strength and comfort, and, of course, for perfect healing. Then she made a seemingly off-the-cuff comment that I quickly disputed: She said, “I never pray for myself.” And after hanging up, it got me thinking more about how common that is among believers. How when we recognize our sinful thoughts and actions, we do ask for forgiveness from the Lord, and we repent. But how many of us forgo prayers of direction, wisdom, healing, and help for ourselves?
Then, of course, there’s the apprehension to tell God how we really feel during our prayer time: our frustration, confusion, even anger…or the fact that some or all of these emotions are directed toward Him. Spoiler alert, sweet friends: He already knows.
The Lord’s desire is for us to be real with Him. To pull out all our self-directed worries, fears, anger, confusion, frustration, trepidation, etc. See, once we drag those things into the light, out of those dark corners where the enemy of our soul can feed and grow them, we can take them to God’s very throne room! Not only has the Lord been waiting for us to expose and admit this stuff, but He’s been waiting to take these heavy burdens from us—and, ultimately, allow these prayers to be transformed to thanksgiving and praise of His Sovereignty.
We’re given clear examples of this in the Psalms from the “man after God’s own heart”—David. It’s believed that David wrote at least 73 of the 150 Psalms, and we don’t have to turn too far into the book of Psalms to see how David prays for himself—and how these prayers always turn to praise. Even the very, very hard ones.
Start at the beginning by reading Psalms 3 through 7. David cries out to the Lord on his own behalf. He’s often very specific about his circumstances, his feelings, and even what he’d really, really, like God to do to his enemies. (See what are known as the “imprecatory” prayers, such as Psalm 35:6; 58:6; 55:15; 69:28, and 109:8. Pretty enlightening.) But every time, these beautiful and profound prayers end with David’s recognition of God’s attributes, like His holiness, sovereignty, power, and righteousness. Dive deeply into Psalm 6, for instance, where David cries out for healing. His “bones are in agony” and his “soul in deep anguish.. And he asks, “How long, Lord, how long?” Does this resonate with your spirit? I know it does mine. In verses 8 and 9, David says, “the Lord has heard my weeping” and “the Lord has heard my cry for mercy.”
Psalm 13 is a wonderful summarizing prayer of this truth that illustrates our ability to cry out to God with our real feels, to ask for answers, and then—most vitally—to proclaim trust in God’s faithfulness. Because He never fails us. And the woes, the tears, the begging, it all turns to singing because our Lord is wholly holy, perfectly loving, absolutely righteous. We can cast our cares on Him because He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7). We give Him our burden because His yoke is light (Matthew 11:28-29). And we cry on His shoulder because He wipes away our every tear (Revelation 7:17).
I highly recommend you dive into the book of Psalms if you have not yet studied it. There is a treasure trove of wisdom, explicit prayers we can use, truths about God, and prophetic promises fulfilled. And always know, you do not have to omit “me” prayers! The Lord wants you to share your heart with Him, unburden your soul, so He can turn your pain and sorrow into praise and dancing (Psalm 30:11).
“Lord, thank You that You care for me so deeply—more than I can fathom. May I find the freedom to cry out to you in my own need, suffering, and questioning.”
For His Glory
Julianne Winkler Smith
TRBC Women’s Life
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