Honestly praying

One of the things I know in my relationship with God is that I can pray honestly.  I can be real with God.  I don't need to use certain words or say it in a certain way, in fact, God expects me to dialogue and converse with him in a way that implies that we have a relationship.

David prayed honest prayers in the Psalms.

Sometimes we don't understand how David could have prayed such direct and almost argumentative prayers with God. 

Part of understanding the "why" of how David could pray that way is that in his culture, (and in the culture of Jewish people today) people obtain relational intimacy through working through unpleasant feelings, even by arguing if necessary.  Confronting each other is a sign of intimacy in the relationship.  That is how trust and intimacy grows.

I would offer that is the way God looks at prayer.  Sometimes we grow closer to God by bringing God all of the "unpleasant" things about our relationship:  our sadness, disappointments, laments, complaints, and even our anger. 

Based upon God's relationship with Moses, David, Gideon and Elijah, he can handle our honesty.

Listen to the words of Habakkuk in Habakkuk 1:2,3:

"How long, O Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen?  Or cry out to you, "Violence!" but you do not save?  Why do you make me look at injustice?  Why do you tolerate wrong?  Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds."

That honesty. 

May we all be honest with God today.