Praying Through Dark Days

Mid-Week Meditation

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Note: My “mid-week meditations” aren’t exactly arriving at “mid-week”. Sorry about that! This is one of two presentations I made at the Prayer Workshop last weekend. The other will come next week. Hope you enjoy them! Watch for the Sunday Night Check-In…Sunday Night! JED

Audio:

Praying Through the Dark Days

Introduction

All of us, at some time or another, will find ourselves praying through some dark days. One may face the darkness of divorce, disease, depression, or grief. There is no denying that these experiences affect our prayer life. You’re not alone. The Bible is full of people who prayed through the dark days.

1. THE BIBLE TELLS THE STORY OF PRAYING THROUGH DARK DAYS

Job’s Suffering is legendary.

Job 10:20-22 "Are not my few days almost over? Turn away from me so I can have a moment’s joy before I go to the place of no return, to the land of gloom and utter darkness, to the land of deepest night, of utter darkness and disorder, where even the light is like darkness.” Even with all of his pain and questions, he continues to speak out to God. Job 23:17 “Yet I am not silenced by the darkness, by the thick darkness that covers my face.”

King David lost two of his sons and Scripture records his reactions. He fasted and wept - and prayed - when the infant child that belonged to he and Bathsheba was ill.

1 Samuel 12:22-23 “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought,‘Who knows? The LORD may be gracious to me and let the child live.’ 23 But now that he is dead, why should I go on fasting? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”

Later his son Absalom, a rebellious disobedient child, lost his life. 2 Samuel 18:33 “The king was shaken. He went up to the room over the gateway and wept. As he went, he said: “O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you—O Absalom, my son, my son!” (Grief is very deep and steals our words …leaves us with groans.)

Ultimately David spoke into the darkness of his life and sought God’s Strength.

2 Samuel 22: 29-30 You, Lord, are my lamp; the Lord turns my darkness into light. With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall.

Solomon, with all of his wisdom, chose so many unwise paths in life. In the bright cheerful book, Ecclesiastes, he outlined all the useless ways he sought to find some kind of happiness.

Ecclesiastes 11:7-9 “Light is sweet, and it pleases the eyes to see the sun. However many years anyone may live, let them enjoy them all. But let them remember the days of darkness, for there will be many. Everything to come is meaningless.”

His days of darkness came because he did not follow God’s path.

Micah preached into the darkness of idolatry and rejection of God. In his prophecies of destruction due to unfaithfulness, Micah points the way to repentance and light. Micah 7:7-9 “Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light. Because I have sinned against him, I will bear the Lord’s wrath, until he pleads my case and upholds my cause. He will bring me out into the light; I will see his righteousness.”

Jesus Christ was “a man of sorrows” (Isaiah 53:3). At least four times we know he experienced grief:

• He was sorrowful when his cousin John was killed

• He wept at the tomb of Lazarus

• He wept over unfaithful Jerusalem

• He had tears in the garden just before his trials and death.

Each one of those times of sorrow were bathed in prayer. In all of these examples we find powerful people of God who, in their darkest days, cried out to God.

• They recognized the unfairness, the inequity, the mystery, the troublesome

  realities.

• 2. They expressed those to God and wondered what he was up to.

• 3. But they kept on praying - an those prayers in the darkest of days were anchors that held them steady in the storm - close to God and His listening ear.

2. WHAT MAKES PRAYER SO HARD IN THE DARK DAYS?

Dark times affect us physically. Tired, Exhausted, Tears, Sleeplessness.

Dark days affect us emotionally. Forgetfulness, confusion, anxiety, guilt, withdrawal.

Dark days affect us spiritually.

• Religious reappraisal - how we think about God and our relationship to Him.

• Beliefs about the value of prayer.

• Feelings of hopelessness / fatalism.

• Experiencing a faith crisis.

One of faith’s greatest dilemmas is the sovereignty of God and the existence of evil. Often a time of grief is a time for religious reappraisal…do we really believe? Core questions: Why me? Why would God…? Beverly Ross called her grief at the loss of her daughter Jenny, a “Spiritual Earthquake that left me to search through the rubble for my faith…. “For the first time in my life I was disappointed with God. There is no answer for that feeling.”

Feeling that we are being punished for our sins or for some unknown reason. Dark days can be the work of the Enemy, and in those times of oppression we find it hard to bear up on our own. We need the Lord!

3. HOW TO REFOCUS PRAYER IN DARK DAYS

Pray asking God to carry you through this day. Isaiah 40:11 (ESV) He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.

“When you are in the dark, listen, and God will give you a very precious message.” —Oswald Chambers

Pray through your tears and ask God to begin his promise now. Psalm 56:8 ESV You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are They not in your book? Revelation 21:4 “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

Pray with the assurance that at the end of life we will see God. This life is not the end of the story. Sometimes darkness is not temporary. Job 19:25-27 (ESV) For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!

Pray with the knowledge of victory in mind. 1 Corinthians 15:54-57 “When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Prayer Remembering the blessing that is promised. Matthew 5:4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." Mourning doesn't just happen at funerals. Mourning is a process that helps us deal with our sadness. It’s healthy, even though it's difficult. Emotional wounds need to be exposed to Jesus Christ so He can heal them. He accepts us with our sadness, wants to comfort us and promises He will. Pray Searching for the Good

Romans 8:28 (ESV) And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” A verse we learn to dislike because people throw it at grieving people. But there is, of course, truth here - what happened is not good. But what good can God make out of the terrible pain you’ve experienced?

4. PRAYER AND MENTAL HEALTH

I do believe that God can heal our mental struggles and bring us comfort. I also believe God has given us gifts of treatment, counsel, and understanding of the human spirit that can bring healing and mental health as well. I’m thankful that the stigma of mental health is much diminished and finding help is not nearly as difficult as it was in days past. When darkness continues, sometimes people consider ending their own lives. If you are considering suicide, you should call 988 and talk with someone trained to help you through this crisis. The loss left behind a suicide is incredible - it is the least loving thing you can do for yourself or your family. Don’t hesitate to get help.

When a loved one dies by suicide.

• Over 90 percent of the people who die by suicide have a mental illness at the

  time of their death. And the vast majority of those mental illnesses are

  untreated, under-treated, or not properly treated.

• People who die by suicide are not thinking clearly -- and they cannot possibly think clearly -- because their brain is not functioning properly at the time they pass away from suicide.

• The recovery from a loved one dying by suicide is very painful: there is guilt,

  unanswered questions, unresolved issues, the ever present question of “why”.

• Getting professional help may be the course because this is a complicated grief that requires one work through many issues and questions.

There is a lot of theology that goes through our minds when we talk about suicide.

Conclusion

We all face dark days. Not only when  we lose someone we love but also when the struggles of life overwhelm us.

It is no wonder that John records, ‘When Jesus saw her weeping…He was greatly disturbed in spirit … Jesus began to weep.’ John 11:33-35

We should turn to God in prayer during the dark days that we face.

In my next message I will show us how the Psalms prompt our prayers.

The next lesson on prayer will be on Praying through the Psalms. That will be next week sometime! Thanks for reading.