Day 33: Start yelling!

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Quote by Eugene Peterson

"The enemy of real prayer is 'nice' prayer

Thought

 We had a sermon from the book of Job today at church.  Our minister, Paul, used this quote in his sermon and it struck a chord with me.  At the moment, so many of my friends are facing real crisis and bad patches in their lives.  We pray for each other and ourselves in an almost apologetic way, saying "Your will be done" and "This is part of Your plan" when every fibre of our being wants to scream and rage at God.  And why don't we?  If one of our friends or partners has hurt us, we soon let them know.  Plenty of yelling or arguing!  And it doesn't diminish our relationship or stop us loving them; it clears the air and makes us feel better for having expressed our grievance.  So it should be with God.  We don't have to sit and meekly agree with all that is bad with the world.  He wants us to be honest with Him and to share our unhappiness, grief and growls.

When I lost my first baby, I can remember the comforting prayers of others, and I appreciated them.  But the thing I remember most is sitting with my mother and wailing and raging and her crying and wailing with me.  It was a true expression of the disconsolate pain I felt.  And that expression of grief was the most helpful to me and was a form of release for me.

Paul spoke of the wailing and lamenting the women from Eastern countries do, the ululation of grief or joy.  Very un-British!!!  But we should express ourselves with such passion, we should share our grief with God.  He will hold and comfort us as my mother did me.  He wants us to share our disappointments with him.  If we sit there and soppily say, ‘It is all OK’ how can he share our grief?

Prayer

Help me be honest with you God.  Let me feel able to express my true emotions and feeling to you, to pray without holding back.  I want my relationship with you to be open and honest.