Pour Out Your Heart

There are some people in the Bible that bring out some real frustration and real and honest feelings about things before God . I think of Moses and Hannah and David and Jesus Himself. Each of them had deep connection with God. Each of them had real needs and they did not hold back from letting God know what was up. (Numbers 11:11, 1 Samuel 1:10, Psalm 27:9, Mark 15:34)

Have you ever been able to identify with some of these real-life Bible characters? (Read those passages first.)

I get into situations like that sometimes where I may feel a real hurt or sense an important need, at least in my own estimation, and I know that I should be bringing it before God. However, sometimes the exact opposite occurs. I’m held back from allowing my true emotions and feelings about it to be known to Him. But why? I am convinced that He cares for me and that He wants me to pray to Him. I am familiar and convinced in that fact that Jesus wants me to give my concerns over to Him in prayer, because He tells me to “by prayer and petition present your requests to God.” The problem that I think that I face sometimes is that it doesn’t seem right for me to vent – to thrust all my frustration on Him. Mostly because I am pretty sure that what I’m feeling isn’t always right. I know in the back of my mind that there is something that I may be fundamentally wrong about, or at least in part wrong about. But I think that this is unhealthy. Some people may not struggle with being brutally honest before God, but I think that I tend to be. And this I think is actually unbiblical. Because it doesn’t meet the prescription that God gives to His children.

David gives the example in Psalm 62, “Trust in Him at all times, O people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.” This “pour out of your heart” is really a mystery to me so I can’t fully explain it. However, I do think that it means more than making a mere request before God. I think it means being real with Him – being honest about the state of your heart before Him. I think that sometimes I want to treat God like we treat other people when they frustrate me. Wisely, I give myself time. I cool off. I sleep on it. Generally, I’m a pretty even-keeled guy emotionally, so this doesn’t occur much. But if I am frustrated, I still want to remain for the most part, non-confrontational. Sometimes I think that I need some kind of a cool-off or processing time with my thoughts and feelings before I go to God. But handling a relationship with God like this is not the most beneficial thing to do. God wants us – all of us. He wants to bring to Him a whole heart and a heart that is laid bare before Him – a heart of sincerity.

Now, a sincere heart does not mean that our hearts are perfect and clean. It means that our hearts are imperfect and dirty and that we acknowledge that before God. If you pour your heart out before God, within an hour you’ll be asking for forgiveness because of this kind of honesty that you’ve had with Him. When we verbalize what we feel before God we are able to lay out what is on top as well as what is deep within our hearts. Sometimes what is deep within our hearts is not so beautiful and not so nice, but I think that it is overly-necessary to bring it before Him. Pour out your heart before Him.