When spiritual darkness descends, very little of life makes sense.
Sometimes it's just too dark to see. No, I'm not talking about that occasional flicker of power like we might have experienced during last week's snow storm. I'm talking about sustained darkness, when there is absolutely no power or light. During this king of darkness you don't see the sun, moon, or stars for days, weeks, or maybe even years. And I am not talking physical darkness, but the kind of spiritual darkness that descends upon the soul, when very little in life seems to make sense.
Darkness was the experience of King David in Psalm 22:1-2 (NIV) when he cried out in prayer, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from hearing the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent."
Darkness was also the experience of Christ Jesus as he was executed on the cross. Upon Christ's death, darkness came over all the land, lasting for three hours. Like David, Jesus cried out to God in Matthew 27:46 (NIV), "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" The Friday when Jesus was killed was dark indeed.
There is no greater darkness than wondering, "Where is God? Has he forsaken me? Will he save me this time, or is this it? Is God actually listening to my prayers, or am I only talking to my imagination? How many days and sleepless nights must I cry out to God before I get a response?" So how do we pray through the darkness?
Pray with total honesty.
We pray differently in the darkness. How often do we pray with such honest intensity like David did in Psalm 22? If you are an extremely religious person, David's prayer might even sound blasphemous. You float a prayer like Psalm 22 and a lot of religious people will shush you. "Shhhhh! You can't say that. It's blasphemous. You'll offend God!"
But God welcomes total honesty in prayer. Have you ever tried to have a relationship with someone who couldn't be honest with you? It doesn't work! Prayer should be honest. If you feel that God hasn't been there for you, if you feel that he has disowned you, then that's where you begin. Tell him. Ask God, "Where are you?"
Pray all day and all night.
In addition to the honest intensity, notice the relentless audacity of David's prayers. Psalm 22:2 (NIV) says, "...I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent." When you pray and God doesn't seem to answer, do you just give up? Do you resign yourself to fate? Do you assume, "Oh, this must be what God wants for me." Or do you get on your knees and persist in prayer day after day, night after night, until you hear from God?
Pray with your ears and eyes.
Look closely at Psalm 22! When we pray, do we give God a chance to speak? That's one problem with our prayers-- they can be a monologue! Have you ever tried to talk to someone who wouldn't stop talking long enough for you to get a word in edgewise? If we're going to pray to God, it has to be a dialogue, not a monologue. Maybe one reason we feel that God isn't answering is because we're not listening.
So how do we listen to God? Well, we grab a Bible and we start reading, reflecting, meditating, listening, and hearing God's words. Do you suppose you or I are the only ones who have ever had to struggle with sin, life, death, fear, or doubt? The Bible has countless stories about people who have struggled just like we do.
I love how David begins to reflect on who God is in Psalm 22. In the first part of the psalm he says, "God why this, why that?" But then he realizes in Psalm 22:3-5 (NIV), "Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel. In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them. They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed."
What is so powerful about scriptural reflection is that we see how God works. We get to test our feelings, thoughts, assumptions, and experiences to see if they measure up to reality. What David expressed in Psalm 22:5 is that no one who has ever cried out to God and who has put his trust in God has ever been disappointed!
Now where do you suppose he came about such a thought? I'd bet he read about the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I'd bet he read about Joseph, Moses, Joshua and Caleb. I'd bet he started realizing that not ever has a person trusted God and been disappointed. Our Bible is packed full of stories of men and women, sinners and saints, young and old, barren and unbarren, rich and poor, tempted and untempted, healthy and sick people who trusted God and were not disappointed. These people represent literally every imaginable circumstance!
I know that some people claim to hear the audible voice of God. My personal experience is that when I read, reflect, and meditate on scripture, thinking about who God is, what he is doing, and what he'd say to me, God's voice becomes so crystal clear that it's as if God is talking to me face-to-face, like two friends talking to one another.
Trust God through the pain.
As God speaks through his word, trust him, despite your painful situation. This is exactly what David does in Psalm 22:6-8 (NIV). He laments his plight, "But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads: 'He trusts in the Lord; let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.' "
The hard part about prayer is deciding whose words will shape our lives. Will it be our words? The words of mockers? Or will we trust God's word? A lot of people ask, "Will God save me?" The skeptic says, "Hah, God cannot save you." But God says, "No matter how you think or feel in your darkness, no matter how dark the dark gets, I am surely saving you. I have not forsaken you. I have not disowned you. Trust me."
Pray conversationally.
Something else I noticed in Psalm 22 is how David engaged in ongoing dialogue. He spoke to God with honest intensity and with relentless audacity. Right after he expressed his anguish, he realized that God had been there all along. In Psalm 22:9-11 (NIV) David realized this. "Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you even at my mother's breast. From birth I was cast upon you; from my mother's womb you have been my God. Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help."
Have you ever seen the way of a mother and her baby? A baby cries out in fear, "Feed me. Hold me. Change me. A mother leaves for five minutes and the baby freaks out. "Mama! Mama!" Just as a mother hears and responds, so God hears and responds. In time, a baby learns to trust in its mother, so also the Christian learns to trust in God.
Praise God!
When after all the darkness and anguish subsides, and God has once again proven himself to faithful, praise his holy name. Listen to David! In Psalm 22:22-31 (NIV) David says, "I will declare your name to my brothers; in the congregation I will praise you. You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel! For he has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help. From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly; before those who fear you will I fulfill my vows. The poor will eat and be satisfied; they who seek the Lord will praise him-- may your hearts live forever! All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, for dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations. All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before him-- those who cannot keep themselves alive. Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord. They will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn-- for he has done it."
Earlier I mentioned that Jesus could be heard praying David's prayer as he was being killed on the cross. "Eloi, Eloi, Lama Sabachtanai. My God my God why have thou forsaken me?" You might have assumed that Jesus was praying, but he was not. Jesus was quoting Psalm 22 as if to say, "Watch what God is about to do!"
You may think that even in death, God has not listened to your cry for help. But look how God heard and responded! Christ died, was buried, and was raised on the third day after his crucifixion. This was done by the power of God to show that not even in death will God forsake us. He will not disown us, but will deliver us from death into his eternal kingdom. In Acts 1:8 (NIV) before Jesus ascends to Father he says, "...and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth!" Tell everyone what God has done! You've not been forsaken; not in life, not in death, and certainly not in the darkness.
One of the top cable shows is on A and E, and is called "Duck Dynasty". I want you to hear this story of how God saved the most unlikely person in most unlikely way. If you follow the show, it's like "Little House on Prairie" for rednecks! But what you may not know is that Phil is an elder in a Church of Christ, much like ours. They've used their show as a means of testifying to the resurrection power of God.