Living in the Tension of Faithful Prayer
Scripture — Psalm 22:2, 24 (NRSV)
O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer; and by night, but find no rest.
For he did not despise or abhor the affliction of the afflicted; he did not hide his face from me, but heard when I cried to him.
Focus
The season of Lent is a time for us to draw near to God. This sounds wonderful, and indeed it can be. But the God to whom we draw near is not some tidy little deity whom we can neatly sort out with our own understanding. Rather, God is sovereign, holy, and often mysterious. God’s ways are not our ways (Isa 55:8). Thus, the closer we get to God, the more we might be perplexed by God’s unfathomable nature. Sometimes we wonder why it seems that God doesn’t hear our prayers. At other times, we rejoice in the assurance that God both hears us and responds in loving grace. Sometimes we do both at once. We wonder in perplexity and rejoice with assurance.
This devotion is part of the Psalms for Lenten Devotion series.
Devotion
Today’s Life for Leaders devotion is based on two verses from Psalm 22. In the first verse (22:2), the psalmist laments God’s lack of response to his desperate prayers. Even though he has called out to God day and night, God has not answered. The second verse (22:24) seems almost to contradict the first, affirming God’s attention to his cries for help.
How is it possible for both of these verses to appear in the same psalm? How can the psalmist accuse the Lord of ignoring his prayers, yet, moments later, celebrate God’s faithfulness in response to his desperate cries?
Such apparently contradictory statements make sense when we realize that our faith in the living God is not some neat, tidy relationship that we can carefully manage. Every person who has walked with God for a while has experienced seasons of despair and seasons of exultation. Sometimes these seasons overlap, even in a single moment or a single prayer. In agony, we cry out for God’s help. Then we remember God’s goodness. Then our desperation returns as we wonder why God seems so distant. Then we are encouraged by the promise of God’s presence. And so it goes when we live in the tension of faithful prayer.
Psalm 22 invites us into a truthful, tumultuous, passionate, growing, intimate relationship with God. It permits us to cry out in anguish without holding back and to rejoice in the memory of God’s faithfulness — and, sometimes, to do both at once.
The season of Lent is a time for us to draw near to God. This sounds wonderful, and indeed it can be. But the God to whom we draw near is not some tidy little deity whom we can neatly sort out with our own understanding. Rather, God is sovereign, holy, and often mysterious. God’s ways are not our ways (Isa 55:8). Thus, the closer we get to God, the more we might be perplexed by God’s unfathomable nature. Sometimes we wonder why it seems that God doesn’t hear our prayers. At other times, we rejoice in the assurance that God both hears us and responds in loving grace. Sometimes we do both at once. We wonder in perplexity and rejoice with assurance.
Reflect
Can you relate to the diverse expressions of prayer in Psalm 22?
What do you do when it seems as if God isn’t hearing your prayers?
What helps you to pray freely and boldly?
Act
Talk with a wise friend or with your small group about the perplexing reality of an honest relationship with God.
Pray
Gracious God, thank you for the glorious untidiness of Psalm 22. In the psalmist’s wide-ranging dialogue with you, I see my own mix of certainty and uncertainty, faith and doubt. How grateful I am for the freedom this psalm demonstrates as I come before you in prayer.
Help me, dear Lord, to bring my true self before you without feeling as if I have to clean myself up to impress you. Give me the confidence to live in the messiness of a genuine relationship with you.
And when it seems as if you are not even hearing my prayers, remind me of your faithfulness in the past. Help me to persevere in prayer even when my faith falters. By your grace, may I trust you more and more each day. Amen.
Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the High Calling archive, hosted by the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: Why Have You Forsaken Me?.
Mark D. Roberts
Senior Strategist
Dr. Mark D. Roberts is a Senior Strategist for Fuller’s Max De Pree Center for Leadership, where he focuses on the spiritual development and thriving of leaders. He is the principal writer of the daily devotional, Life for Leaders,...