How to Pray “the Big Stuff”– and “the Bad Stuff”

There are some things I want my grandchildren to know.

What do you do when your problem is SO BIG and so IMPOSSIBLE that you wonder (heretical thought!) if it is actually bigger than God?

What  do you do if you can’t hear one hopeful word calling above the din of the sea of negativity that seems to be drowning you?

What do you do if your body is positively tingling to smash your “enemy” with a mighty blow? What if you you wake up from a troubled sleep to find yourself calling down curses on his/her head?

What do you do when you realize that you really ARE bad? What do you do when you feel that no grace will reach you?

Because life is messy. Even a Christian life.

It’s hard to be really honest and stay positive.

And that’s what I like about singing/praying Psalms. I can be brutally honest, I can acknowledge all my pain and even anger and doubt…   and yet when all is said and done – when all the garbage is out in the open - there is hope in my heart.

Truly, among the gods there is none like our God!

But as we sang with the children this summer I realized how crucial understanding context and structure is to maintaining hope.

The first two verses 85A of are so encouraging.

So why the reversal in verses 3 and 4?

If God has already taken all His wrath from us and turned from His fierce anger, why does verse three start with a request to turn and let indignation cease to burn?

A number of years ago, I noticed a pattern in Biblical prayers. Many prayers, although not all, begin by running through a lot of history (and sometimes citing earlier Scriptures.)

Verses 1 and 2 are referring to Judah’s return from Babylon. And if you know anything of this long history, you will remember how merciful God is. You will know the answer to those gut wrenching questions in verses 3 and 4.

No, He won’t stay angry!

Yes, He will restore our joy!

He WILL show His lovingkindness.

So go ahead and shout out your anger, grief and shame. But don’t forget to go back to the beginning and REMEMBER God’s great mercy, God’s great Grace.

“Whenever you are in a low state of mind or heart, remember God’s past lovingkindnesses. Recall the record of what he has done for his people in ages long gone by, for he is the same God for ever and ever, and, therefore, what he has done in the past, he will do in the future.”

- Charles Spurgeon

These are things I want my grandchildren to know.