Lesson 265: "Crying Out to the Lord"
When people cry out to the Lord and their problem is not solved immediately or the way they want then they wrongly assume that God has forsaken them. The most devastating and heartfelt cry of being forsaken comes from Jesus on the Cross recorded in Mark 15:24; “Eloi, Eloi, Lama Sabachthani? My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” God was silent because Jesus had literally become man’s sin and God’s eyes are too pure to look on evil (Hab. 1:13). This cry from Christ was made that we all would have the privilege of crying out to “Abba Father” (Rom. 8:15). Jesus paid the price that we could approach the throne and find grace to help us in when we cry out (Heb. 4:16). Just before His death Jesus asked the Father to forgive those who were killing Him (Luke 23:34) and the Father answered with the death of His Son so that all the world might be forgiven (John 3:16-18). He was forsaking the sin that was upon the shoulders of His Son; the answer came when He took the Spirit of Christ home (Luke 23:46) and on the third day when His Son rose again (Luke 24:46-47). Everyone who cries out to the Lord gets an answer and everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved (Rom. 10:13). God encourages us to cry out to Him. When we cry out to Him we show that we know Him and His power to do what we cannot.
Our prayers may not always be answered on time according to our thinking but remember that Daniel mourned and prayed for three weeks before the angel came to tell him that his prayer had been answered from the first day (Dan. 10:1-14). It might be answered by fire from heaven as was David’s (1 Chro. 21:26) and it might be answered before you call out and while you are still speaking (Isa. 65:24). He answered Moses and Aaron from the pillar of cloud (Ps. 99:6-7); Jeremiah was in the depths of the pit when God heard his plea, came to him and said “do not fear” (Lam. 3:55-57). The book of 1st Chronicles is made up of lists of clans, tribes and families, almost putting you to sleep when suddenly you come upon a couple of verses that grab your attention and wake you to the fact that God does hear your cries and God does answer; “Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, ‘Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain’. And God granted his request”.
Samson cried out to the Lord for water and God opened up the ground, water came out for Samson to drink and his strength returned (Jud. 15:18-19). You might also remember to cry out to the Lord for direction before you pray your request so as not to end up like Israel. They demanded a king but Samuel told them that the day would come when they would cry out for relief from the king they chose and the Lord would not answer them. But the people continued to demand a king so the Lord told Samuel; “Listen to them and give them a king” (1 Sam. 8:1-22). After the division of the kingdoms, there were a succession of nineteen kings; fifteen were bad; one extra bad; two mostly bad and one (Ahab) was the very worst (1 Kings 16:30-31). The “time of the kings” was not good for Israel!
Prayer is not a passive behavior but rather an active pursuit. What exactly do you mean when you cry out to the Lord? Are you crying; Lord do something? Take over Lord because my way is not working? Lord I give up and now I am giving it to you? Do not let prayer become a last ditch effort when you are at your wits’ end. Cultivate a persistent and consistent dialogue with God, being careful not to cry out during a pity party or start asking God to take vengeance on someone who has “done you wrong”. There was great relief among the Israelites upon leaving the bondage of Egypt; however, after six weeks in the wilderness, hungry, tired and bewildered, conditions became more than they could bear. They cried out to the Lord; “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt” (Ex. 16:3)! These yearnings of the people can represent a person moaning because they are experiencing anguish in the struggle against sin. The person may feel it easier to yield to sin rather than suffer through the pain of resisting. Do not cry out to God to “deliver you back into the sin from which He brought you”!
Prayer changes people and this change takes extra effort and lots of time. The Lord heard the Israelites’ complaints but rather than sending them back to bondage He fed them. That was a mighty and forgiving compassionate God! He is the same today and we must never let evil and the lure of the world keep us from receiving God’s goodness. Instead of complaining “oh, that we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt”; submit to Him and let His Right Hand lift us up (Isa. 41:10). Cry out to the Lord against the world and not to go back into the sin from which He brought you. David prayed throughout the book of Psalm and he says it best in Psalm 141; “O Lord, I call to you; come quickly to me. Hear my voice when I call to you. May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice. Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips. Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil, to take part in wicked deeds with men who are evildoers; let me not eat of their delicacies”.