Prayer in Times of Suffering and Loneliness

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from my cries of anguish?
My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, but I find no rest.

Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
you are the one Israel praises.
In you our ancestors put their trust;
they trusted and you delivered them.
To you they cried out and were saved;
in you, they trusted and were not put to shame.

(Psalm 22: 1 - 5)

Prayer is a precious part of our life of faith. We have come across various phases of our life, with differing emotions, that have influenced our attitude towards our conversations with God. And, especially, when life goes through a very rough path; when it is filled with moments of suffering and loneliness, our attitude towards prayer does change. The temporary or momentary situation around us forces us to look at prayer as a one-way communication where we may not find the reply from God reaching us. God seems far away from us. Some of us tend to break our regular and meaningful conversations with the Lord. 

As I read Psalm 22, I was able to see the same struggle in the heart of David; someone who was called by God as "a man after my own heart" (1 Samuel 13:14, Acts 13:22). David did have moments of suffering and loneliness. David had times of rejection and anxieties, even in the midst of his own people whom he loved and adored. And, then, we find David to be in the exact position where anyone with suffering and loneliness may be in. But David surprised me. This great man of God who was next to God's own heart had his own way of approaching God even in the midst of calamities and struggle. I wish to share them with you today. 

David's prayer openly expresses his Anguish.

Psalm 22 is an example of how expressive we could be in our prayer with regard to our emotions and feelings. David was very transparent in God's presence about how he felt. In the midst of the waves of suffering and loneliness, David was taking prayer as his time of pouring out what was troubling his heart. David prays (actually, cries out...) saying "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest (Psalm 22: 1, 2). I can imagine David kneeling and then falling prostrate at the presence of the Lord and his anguish bursting out of him. 

David's anguish was an amalgamation of two things; one was his worldly suffering and the other was his spiritual vacancy. On one side he was overwhelmed by the amount of suffering he had to undergo and on the other he had this emptiness he felt because he did not feel God's presence to be close to him. But I marvel at the way how David, rather than being diplomatic in his words in prayer, opens his heart in front of God and tells what he really felt like. He expressed his two points of difficulties with his most expressive words of questions... Within these two verses, we could identify the words resonating so powerfully; "My God... My God... Why... Why... I cry but you do not...!" 

David's prayer openly expresses his Faith.

The above expressions of anguish are followed by verses of faith; words of the acknowledgement of God's power and presence. The words of suffering and loneliness are followed by words of remembrance and reassurance. David says (probably keeping his one hand on his chest and lifting the other in praise), "Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the one Israel praises. In you our ancestors put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them. To you they cried out and were saved; in you, they trusted and were not put to shame" (Psalm 22: 3 - 5). Even though David was overwhelmed by the momentary situation that prevailed around him; he did not forget to acknowledge whom he was crying out to. David expressed how confident he was in the Lord and how much he wanted God to deliver him from the troubles in the most marvellous and miraculous ways. And that was the best part of the relationship that was between God and David. And David's prayer becomes a sign of how assured he was in the Lord even in the midst of sufferings and loneliness around him. 

This is Prayer in Times of Suffering and Loneliness.

Today we may be in the midst of suffering and loneliness. The present condition in the world has brought many of us into isolations, difficulties and situations where we are unable to reach each other for comfort. But let us be assured that our beautiful moments of prayer with God can never be affected by any worldly condition. Just like Apostle Paul proclaimed "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8: 38, 39), let us continue to look to God in our prayers that will always pour out our heart in front of the Lord and admit the miserable vacancy that is there when God seems far away. At the same time, let our prayers also celebrate and acknowledge to whom we are praying. Let our words of prayer become words of faith that seek God's deliverance and help with much adoration. 

I pray that the power and blessings of God the Father, the love and grace of Christ Jesus the Son, and the fellowship and presence of the Holy Spirit will be with us and guide us as we continue to seek God in prayer in our times of suffering and loneliness. 

*A PERSONAL NOTE of THANKS to all of you who have been praying for me earnestly and writing to me on hearing the demise of my beloved father in Nov 2020 and my inability to reach home in Batticaloa from London for the funeral due to travel restrictions. Your prayers are answered! After a long wait of three months, God has opened the way for me to travel home. I will be reaching Sri Lanka on the 26th and may have to quarantine myself for 14 days before reaching home. With God's grace, I will be sending the next week's devotion from Sri Lanka. Kindly keep my travel in your prayers. A big thank you. 

May God bless you.

Yours in Christ,