Crying Out

             The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. (Exodus 3:7)

You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry to You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, (Psalm 10:17)

The other day I overheard a security guard or a cop (I didn’t look closely enough to see more than that he was in a uniform)  talking to a young woman. All I overheard is that she was upset. He told her repeatedly that she was OK now, and that there was no reason to cry. I resisted the temptation to correct his “masculine” response to tears because I don’t think it’s necessarily masculine. A lot of women would try to convince her to stop crying, too. What we tend to forget is that while someone’s tears may make us uncomfortable, crying is cathartic and self-soothing because it uses built up energy so that we can calm down.

In Scripture, crying or crying out to God is encouraged unless it is accompanied by rebellion. When we insist on worshipping other gods, God may reach a point at which He says to go cry to them, not Him. The other time that God may tell us to stop crying is when He’s given us His answer. But even then, David cried out day and night to God  about his son, in hopes that God would let the baby live.

Today’s passages assure us that God pays attention to those who cry out to them. I’m convinced we don’t cry out to Him enough and we don’t cry out to Him about the right things. This isn’t to say that we should pray less about the things we pray about. We should probably pray more about them. But we should be crying out to God about things we don’t.

So, it’s time to challenge ourselves. Here are four possible ways to do it. First, pick 3-5 things about which you feel strongly and add them to your daily prayers. Second, pick one prayer item to cry out to God about for each of the following: the church, the family, the community, those in authority, enemies, and yourself. Third, pick one prayer item to cry out to God about for each of the following:  your spirit, your mind, your body, your social relationships, and your soul. Fourth, pick one prayer item from each of the following areas of your life: physical, intellectual, emotional, financial, stewardship, spiritual, and relational. Or, as a bonus idea – look out  your window and begin praying for each household (apartment, whatever) you can see -even if you don’t know their names.