“Oh God, listen to my cry! Hear my prayer!” (Psalm 61:1 NLT)
I prayed some emotionally unedited prayers yesterday, the kind where one scoops out the contents of their soul and lets the Lord sort through it when they’re done. It wasn’t pretty, but it may be the most productive thing I do all week.
This morning, in my Restoration Year devotional, John Eldredge reminds me that it’s okay to pray unfiltered prayers. He assures me that God can handle my messy, maybe even misdirected heart. We look to the Psalms and see such an example; David prayed with unbridled passion. Whatever he felt, he put out there and God sorted it out.
Maybe this is hard for us in an Instagram culture? We feel this constant compulsion to ‘clean up’ our content for public consumption. We’re hard-pressed to protect our public image. We don’t want to appear, for even a moment, as though we don’t have it all together. The thing is, there shouldn’t be a filter between us and our Creator. He loves us just as we are. We give Him our messy, unedited heart and He lovingly recreates it, and hands it back to us restored.
I recall a camp speaker from years past. She shared how at the end of the day, we’re all reduced to jammies and bedhead. Even the president of the country, the most famous movie star, the brightest minds and the most ordinary folks alike, at the end the day it’s pajamas and a pillow for each of us. And God loves us just like that, when we have nothing to offer. I appreciated that perspective; when our wealth and position and perceptions are reduced to mere human frailty, God still adores us.
Beloved, He can handle the full force our heart. He made it. He’s not surprised or even taken aback by our unedited thoughts. He’s only saddened when we attempt to hide from Him.
“Oh my people, trust Him at all times. Pour your heart out to Him. Interlude.” (Psalm 62:8 NLT)
We tend to skip past the interlude, or the ‘selah’ as the NIV puts it. Resist the urge to move on this morning. Take a few moments and pour out your true heart. You may be surprise what you find in there.
Lord, we are so glad that You are a safe place to pour out our heart. This planet is a hurtful and confusing place. If we hold our feelings in, they may become toxic and poison us from the inside out. Give us the courage today to pause in Your presence and pour out our hearts. Sort it out. Give us back what we need to keep and wash away the rest in Your perfect grace. Amen.