Crying Out to God - 1
He leads me …
What does it mean to cry out to God?
There are times in a Christian’s life when our lives seem to be falling apart. The sort of things like bills that cannot be paid, serious health issues, the car has broken down, a loved one has died – and so the list goes on.
Then we find that the agencies that are set up to help us either do not have the money to really help, and/or they do not seem to care about our problem.
So what do we do? Probably what we should have done to begin with. We turn to the Lord, and cry out to Him for help.
And what will the Lord do? Will He look at His list of priorities and say, ‘You are No 34,294 on the list. This might take some time’? Of course not. Let us look at what He actually says He will do.
· “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles.” (Psalm 34:17 NKJV).
· “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.” (Psalm 50:15 NKJV).
· “When I cry out to You, Then my enemies will turn back; This I know, because God is for me.” (Psalm 56:9 NKJV).
· ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’ (Jeremiah 33:3 NKJV).
Crying out to God is a passionate cry of faith in Him, asking Him to respond in His goodness and power to help sort out our circumstances. When we do this we are likely to expresses some of the following traits:
Genuine humility. It is hard for us to admit that we do not have the ability to sort out our own problems, and that we need God’s help. Fortunately He welcomes in a broken heart that humbly seeks His assistance. “He does not forget the cry of the humble [afflicted]. (Psalm 9:12b NKJV; see also Psalm 10:17).
Unconditional surrender. When a situation becomes so desperate that we know only God can have the answer, our cry represents total, unconditional surrender. There is no point in trying to bargain with God – we simply leave our life in His hands. “The Lord will not hear me if I hold on to sin in my heart.” (Psalm 66:18 NLV).
A plea for mercy. Without Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, we have nothing that will win God’s favour. In desperation our shamefulness before God becomes more obvious, which encourages us to cry out to Him for mercy. “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22–23 NKJV).
Personal helplessness. Remember that the Lord wants to help us with every aspect of our lives. Jesus said, “He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5 NKJV).
Faith in God’s power and resources. When we cry to God we recognise His ability to do what no one else can do. During the storm on the Sea of Galilee, the disciples affirmed Jesus’ ability to rescue them when they cried out, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” (Matthew 8:25 NKJV)
Desperation. Crying out to God is an admission that we need God. The psalmist declared, “In my distress I called upon the Lord, And cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, And my cry came before Him, even to His ears.” (Psalm 18:6 NKJV).
So what is God’s response to us crying out to Him?
The following provides a few of the biblical examples of occasions where people cried out to God and He heard their cries and then delivered them:
· Elijah cried out, and God revived a dead child:
“Then he cried out to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, have You also brought tragedy on the widow with whom I lodge, by killing her son?” And he stretched himself out on the child three times, and cried out to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, I pray, let this child’s soul come back to him.” Then the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came back to him, and he revived.” (I Kings 17:20–22 NKJV).
· Jehoshaphat cried out, and God delivered him from death:
“So it was, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, “It is the king of Israel!” Therefore they surrounded him to attack; but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the Lord helped him, and God diverted them from him.” (II Chronicles 18:31 NKJV).
· Hezekiah cried out, and God gave him victory:
“Now because of this King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz, prayed and cried out to heaven. Then the Lord sent an angel who cut down every mighty man of valor, leader, and captain in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned shamefaced to his own land. And when he had gone into the temple of his god, some of his own offspring struck him down with the sword there.” (II Chronicles 32:20–21 NKJV).
· Jesus’ disciples cried out to Him in a storm, and Jesus calmed the sea:
“But as they sailed He fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy [danger]. And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, ‘Master, Master, we are perishing!’ Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm.” (Luke 8:23–24 NKJV).
· Blind Bartimaeus called to Jesus, and He restored his sight:
‘Now they came to Jericho. As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Then many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called. Then they called the blind man, saying to him, “Be of good cheer. Rise, He is calling you.” And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus. So Jesus answered and said to him, “What do you want Me to do for you?” The blind man said to Him, “Rabboni [My Great One], that I may receive my sight.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road.’ (Mark 10:46-52, NKJV).
The Lord says in His Word that we should look to Him when we have difficulties.
Psalm 50:15 (NKJV) says, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.” If we cry out to Him with humility, sincerity, and faith. Psalm 145:18-19 says, “The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them.” (Psalm 145:18-19).[1]
“So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.” (Hebrews 4:16 NLT)
[1] What does it mean to cry out to God?, Institute in Basic Life Principles; https://iblp.org/questions/what-does-it-mean-cry-out-god
