Pour Out Your Troubles

SCRIPTURE
Psalm 142:1-3

1 I cry out to the Lord;
I plead for the Lord’s mercy.
2 I pour out my complaints before him
and tell him all my troubles.
3 When I am overwhelmed,
you alone know the way I should turn.


PRAYER

Lord, sometimes ______ just has a need to come before you and unburden her heart. She feels the pain of trouble in her life, and the pressure gives vent to a respectful complaint. She has a case to build for what she would like you to do. I pray that you would release the constraints on ______’s heart, and allow her the freedom to tell you what she will. Lord, bid her follow the Psalmist example, and cry out with a plea for your mercy and a detailing of all her troubles. Somewhere in the expression there is hope and comfort to be found, we know. So pull from her heart the depth of pain that she holds there. I pray that she would release that pain into your hands, with details. You are big enough to handle even the raw blast of emotion she feels. You are able to sift through the words and hear her true heart. She has no risk of being misunderstood by you Lord. Give her permission in her soul to speak from that place of being overwhelmed. And as she does, I pray that you would reassure her that you alone understand the situation, and you alone know the change in direction that she needs. From the expression of pain, show her your direction Lord. Make it as clear as the day. Help the eyes of her heart to see it. Help the feet of her will to follow your direction Lord, follow it completely. Amen.

ENCOURAGEMENT

There is no shame in feeling pain, and in venting the full blast of your emotions to God. He can handle it. Tell him where you hurt, why you want it to change, and what you want him to do. It’s called prayer, and it may not look like a church prayer, but it will certainly look like a prayer of Psalm 142. God will be pleased, and you might just find some direction waiting at the other end.