Rightful Complaining in Our Prayers

“Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not thyself from my supplication.  Attend unto me, and hear me: I mourn in my complaint, and make a noise; because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked: for they cast iniquity upon me, and in wrath they hate me.” Psalm 55:1-3

These blogs are intended for the believer to think biblically.  We are addressing a topic which is commonly overlooked by the believer.  Many have been taught in a discipleship program through the church that believer’s should not complain before God.  Yes, scripture does promise trial and tribulations will be active in the role of every believer; but that does not mean that we are not to express our emotions before God.  What role does one’s heart now become involved?   I believe that it will be beneficial for us to look deeper into  scripture to find such answers and guidance.  My prayer is that the ministering work of the Holy Spirit will guide the words written within this and all other blogs that I post. There are four  major elements of prayer which elicit prayers of complaint.  For today we will examine the first.

Since the fall of man; life has dramatically changed from our original creation.  The fall of man surrendered his right of possessing the Earth and maintaining it.  The induction of sin brought about a plethora of possibilities which our Lord never intended for man to face.  In lieu of man’s disobedience; God, in his omniscience had already planned for man’s redemption before the fall (Ephesians  1:4-7).  Our ability to function in a fallen race presents obstacles for the believer.  One element of that dysfunction is opposition.  

Opposition for the believer comes in various platforms.  Often we feel betrayed by someone else.  This may include another believer.  I have been involved in several churches throughout my lifetime and the reoccurring theme throughout is that no church is free from problems.  There is opposition  from others such as different religions claiming the right to perform hideous crimes against Christians.  Opposition runs rapid throughout the workplace.  Opposition is the agenda of Satan against  God and the believer. So you can easily relate to this ongoing problem of opposition.

Common references throughout the Psalms describe opposition and the rightful complaint of the believer petitioning God to alleviate the action.  Let’s examine a few. “How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?  How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?  Consider and hear me, O Lord my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death” (Psalm 13:1-3).  Read again the scripture located at the top of this blog (Psalm 55:1-3).  What prayers like these teach us is the fact  that prayers like these  describing the distress of a believer are entirely in order.  When bad things occur for the believer and we are at the ‘end of our rope’; we see the examples of prayers which speak freely and at considerable length toward God. Phrases such as “how long” appear some twenty times in the Psalms.  What the believer is personifying  are the words I’m helpless, I’m hurting; I feel hopeless.  Scripture does not seem to regard these types of prayers by the believer anything less than wisdom.  

So I present some questions to invite additional discussion,. Do you believe this topic is in opposition to what you believe God expects?  Do you find comfort in learning or understanding that God invites this type of discourse in the believer’s pray life?  Just some thoughts.  Grace and peace always.