Workday Prayers: Pour Out Your Heart to God

Scripture – Psalm 62:8 (NRSV)

Trust in him at all times, O people;
+++pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us. Selah

Prelude

At different times in my life, I heard teaching on prayer that went something like this: “If you really have faith in God, then you only need to pray once for something. Pray just once with confidence. Praying more than once is evidence of a lack of faith.” I should hasten to add that I never heard this from any of my pastors. But I did hear it on the radio or on Christian TV.

From a certain perspective, this teaching makes sense. I get it. But the big problem with this teaching is its inconsistency with Scripture. The “pray only once” doctrine doesn’t show up in the Bible. Instead, we find things like Psalm 62:8: “Trust in [God] at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him.” Pouring out your heart is quite different from praying once with full assurance. Pouring out your heart is more like imploring God to help, again and again, and again.

What I find fascinating in Psalm 62:8 – and extremely encouraging – is that trusting in God is expressed, not through one-time praying, but rather through repeated pouring. Because we trust God, because we have confidence in God’s grace and mercy, we can come before God’s throne of grace with boldness, free to say whatever is in our hearts (see Hebrews 4:16).

Prayer

Gracious God, thank you for making yourself known to me. Thank you for helping me to trust you, even in hard times. Thank you for being a refuge to me, a place of safety and rest.

O God, because I trust you as a God of grace and mercy, I am free to be who I really am with you. I don’t have to pretend that I’m better than I am, more faithful and trusting. I don’t have to compose perfect prayers, getting every theological point exactly right. Rather, I am free to pour out my heart before you, to let you know everything I’m thinking and feeling. You invite me to share every longing, every loss, every hope, every fear.

When I’m going through challenging times at work, help me to pour out my heart to you. Remind me of the freedom you give me in Christ. Invite me by your Spirit to speak openly, even boldly.

As I open my heart to you, yes, I want you to answer my prayers. But with an open heart, I’m also ready, Lord, to know you more deeply and truly, to experience your love more completely. As I pour out my heart to you, I ask you to pour yet more of your love into me. Amen.

Ponder Throughout the Day

Because you trust God, you can pour out your heart to him at any time.

For Further Reflection

Let me encourage you to read all of Psalm 62.

You may also wish to read and reflect on Hebrews 4:14-16.

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Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Commentary on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: Anxiety When Unscrupulous People Succeed (Psalms 49, 50, 52, 62)