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God is not easily shocked. When we read some of the Psalms, we’re almost taken aback by David’s candor. We might say, “Really, David? You’re asking God to judge your enemies and dash them in pieces? You need to get hold of yourself!”

 

But God was just fine with David’s honesty and display of emotion. In fact, David was known as a “man after God’s own heart.” As I read the Psalms, I am convinced that God wants the same thing from us that He wanted from David: an honest heart. We might feel that we need to put on our “Sunday best” when we come to God in prayer. But remember, God sees you in the entire context of your life, not just in this given moment of pain or distress.

 

Earlier generations were taught to control their emotions, push them aside, stuff them neatly under a calm façade. In England, it was called keeping a stiff upper lip. During the World War II bombing of London, the British government posted signs throughout the city that simply said, “Keep calm and carry on.” That “buck up” attitude was especially true of those who lived through the Depression in the 1930s—my parent’s generation.

 

My dad, while affectionate, was never overly expressive. It was my mother who was always letting her emotions show. She is Spanish, so perhaps she gets a free pass in this regard. But my dad, with his English-Irish stoic attitude, usually kept his emotions to himself.

 

Could it be that the pendulum has swung too far in the other direction? As Martin Luther put it, “The world is like a drunken peasant. If you help him up on one side of the horse, he falls off on the other side.” My generation came of age in the sixties and seventies when the mantra was, “let it all hang out.” Today we splash our thoughts all over social media before we’ve even had time to process them. As Christian women, we don’t want to embrace either of these extremes.

 

What, then, do we do with our emotions? We pray them. We pray them out in the presence of God, for the ears of God. David said, “Trust in Him at all times, oh people; pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge” (Psalm 62:8 NIV). That’s the phrase: Pour out your hearts to Him.

 

When I speak of praying your emotion, I don’t mean wrapping them up in tidy little packages. If you keep a journal, do you ever catch yourself cleaning it up a bit, trying to sound more spiritual in case someone might actually read it someday? There’s no need to do that in prayer. You can take the real you into His presence and say everything that’s in your heart. But we can take a page from David’s prayer journal and learn how to pray.

 

“Give ear to my words, oh Lord, consider my sighing. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for to You I pray. In the morning, oh Lord, You hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before You and wait in expectation.”

(Psalm 5:1-3 NIV)  

 

  • David sighs, he cries aloud, and then he goes into articulate prayer. Don’t rush your prayers. Wait and process your emotions in God’s presence until the sighs and cries give way to disciplined prayer.
  • Be specific. David asks for personal direction and guidance. “Lead me, Lord, in Your righteousness . . . make Your way straight before me” (verse 8).
  • Be hopeful. “I lay my requests before You and wait in expectation” (verse 3). How confident is a heart that knows and loves God! With each trial and test over the course of his life, David grew confident that God not only could, but would deliver him out of his fears.

 

God sees the whole of you, the entire package of your life. He sees where you have come from and He knows what you’re experiencing. He sees your tears, and He knows the fears you may never have expressed to another living person. He also knows what He has in mind for you and where He is taking you.