Praying our Raw Humanity
When you come into My presence, pour out your heart before Me: all that you suffer, all that you question, all that you fear, give all to Me. This you do already when you pray the psalms. It was through the psalms that I poured out My own Heart to My Father, and in the prayers of David and the holy ones of Israel, My Father heard My voice and inclined to listen to the prayer of My Heart.
A Benedictine Monk. In Sinu Jesu: When Heart Speaks to Heart--The Journal of a Priest at Prayer (p. 253). Angelico Press. Kindle Edition.
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I have been praying the Psalms for 50 years now. They cover every aspect of life. They are not just feel-good prayers, or positive thinking, but deal with the messiness of what it means to be human.
Prayers that come from the heart are not ‘nice’ and ‘mild-mannered’, but often express deep concerns in emotional terms. It shows that the author of the Psalms was truly himself and all that implies before the Lord.
In the Psalms, there is also praise and joy expressed. Then times of inner darkness are also stated in truly humble terms. Confession of sins, and failures, also openly expressed before the Lord.
True prayer comes from a place of childlike trust, even if expressed in terms that are angry or even enraged. For to be truly oneself takes a great deal of trust.
There is nothing we can express to God that will offend or surprise since all is known, understood by Infinity mercy-Br.MD
