Psalm 107: (4) Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle. (5) They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away. (6) Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them from their distress.
(10) Some sat in darkness and the deepest gloom, prisoners suffering in iron chains, (11) for they had rebelled against the words of God and despised the counsel of the Most High.
(13) Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them out of darkness and the deepest gloom and broke away their chains.
(17) Some became fools through their rebellious ways and suffered affliction because of their iniquities.
(19) Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them from their distress.
(23) Others went out on the sea in ships; they were merchants on the mighty waters.
(27) They reeled and staggered like drunken men; they were at their wit’s end. (28) Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and He brought them out of their distress.
Average Life Span For Humans: 25,550 days!
Several years ago People Magazine published an article entitled, “Dead Ahead,” telling about a new clock that keeps track of how much time you have left to live. It calculates an average life span of 75 years for men and 80 years for women. You program your sex and age into the clock and from then on it will tell you how much time you have left. It sold for $99.95. (1)
Moses doesn’t lean on gimmicks. He goes right to God’s word and tells us, “The length of our days is seventy years—or eighty, if we have strength” (Psalm 90:10 NIV). From the oldest Psalm in the Bible, we learn we have an average life span of 25,550 days.
I did a little math the other day using this concept and came up with the following length of lives for several age groups:
If you are 10, you have an estimated 21,900 days left
If you are 20, 18,250 days
If you are 30, 14,600 days
If you are 40, 12,775 days
If you are 50, 7300 days
If you are 60, you have 3650 days.
Many would love to know how much time they have left in the journey of life. Would it make any difference in how you lived if you knew? Be careful how you answer! The problem is, this type of emphasis will not improve our life.
Have you ever been lost in the mountains? When you finally find another hiker on the trail, you are relieved to ask directions to your campsite, only to have that person tell you, “You can’t get there from here. You have to go back down the trail 5 miles and start from the other side of the mountain!”
Focusing on ourselves will always leave us missing God’s purpose for our life. Let’s take the advice that Moses offers in Psalm 90:12, “Lord, teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” (NIV)
There you have it! Do you see it? You can’t get there from here, unless you start with God.
“…Lord, teach us…”
So it is with the New Year! You will never arrive at God’s plan and purposes for the New Year by starting with a focus on yourself.
“Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life”. Romans 8:6 (Message Bible)
Paul is telling us that you can’t get there from here if your starting place is with self. There is no better place to start the New Year than by giving special attention to the role this prayer plays in the life of every person.
These days everyone seems to be praying, Christians and non-Christians alike. I talked to a parishioner whose husband was in the hospital because of cancer and she said, “I can’t believe all the pray that is happening for my husband.”
It seems that even celebrities are praying. On the sidelines of the 2003 National Championship game between Ohio State and Miami, the camera panned the sidelines and found several 300-pound linemen for the Ohio State Buckeyes praying. Then the camera panned to the Miami Hurricane sideline and found several 300-pound linemen praying on a crucial 4th down. I wonder whose prayers were answered?
Almost every week on the nightly news, someone refers to prayer. It is everywhere these days: We’re praying for our nation, praying for the economy, praying that we don’t go to war, praying for the safe return of a kidnapped child.
Everybody is praying, but not everyone is getting the results they want. Some pray and leave the outcome to chance, kind of like wishing upon a star. God wants us to cry out to Him in our hour of trouble. He tells us this in many of the Psalms:
“Call upon Me in the day of trouble.” Psalm 50:15
“In the day of my trouble I will call upon You, for You will answer me.” Psalm 86:7
“I love the Lord, because He has heard my voice.” Psalm 116:1
What if I told you that you could increase the success of having your prayers answered? Would that peak your interest? This series entitled, “Prayers That Avail Much,” will do just that! The Bible teaches us not only the way to God, but also how to walk with God. Did you know that God’s Word makes a distinction between prayer and crying out to God?”
This message is inspired by a small book given to our staff by a church member as a gift for the holidays. All of our church ministry team is reading or has completed the book, The Power of Crying Out, by Bill Gothard.
Most who use prayer as a means to release the purposes of God into their lives have done so under the assumption that prayer is synonymous with crying out to God. This is bad theology. I suggest to you that “crying out” prayers do make a difference. In the Song of Solomon2:14, God tells us, “Let me hear your voice”. How comforting and reassuring to know that God hears my prayers. He wants to hear my voice. As Bill Gothard says, “He not only wants your heart, He wants your voice.” (2)
A pastor was sharing recently how just before Christmas he was “crying out” to God in prayer. He was telling God that he didn’t know how to make the mortgage on their house. His house sat empty with little furniture. The church needed to pay several bills to come into the New Year in the black.
The pastor came to a Wednesday worship service just before Christmas. Those in the ministry know that the closer you get to Christmas, the smaller the crowds become. Twenty people joined the pastor for service that night. There wasn’t a whole lot of faith for God to work any miracles with such a small crowd. He shared how after the service a lady came up, put a check in his hand and said this is for your family and wished him a Merry Christmas. He then went to the back offices and greeted those who had been counting the night’s offering. They handed him the total on a piece of paper. It was a $10,000 offering! The pastor started shouting and praising God!
As he was rejoicing he remembered the check in his pocket and pulled it out. It was for $5,000! Did it matter that the pastor “cried out to God,” calling on Him with a loud voice? That’s what this message is about. God does respond to prayers that are loud and clear.
Are there circumstances in your life today that can only be resolved by your “Crying Out?” God has established His ways and patterns clearly spelled out in His Word. You don’t have to go far to find the answer. Does God respond to the Crying Out prayers of His people?
For some of you this might seem a little difficult. You might ask, “Doesn’t God already know what is in my heart?” You pray in your mind and heart daily. Isn’t that enough? Yes, God knows your thoughts before you think them. He is aware of your spirit’s deepest longing. This type of “crying out” prayer is drawing out of people groans and travails that don’t come from the head - it comes from the heart. Let it come out dear one! Don’t be ashamed or embarrassed to groan and cry out to God.
If you take a quick survey of God’s Word, you will see the principle of “crying out” unto Almighty God etched into God’s plan for your life. This doesn’t just happen a few times, it seems to be a clearly distinguished pattern for living. I would challenge you to rethink your patterns of prayer because God’s servants were found over and over praying out loud. When you accept this premise it is amazing how the prayers in God’s Word come alive with sound.
Modern day Jews understand this principle. In 2002 I enrolled in Jerusalem University for several weeks of study in the Holy Land. My professor used to say, “There are four gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and The Land.” He was right; God’s Word came alive as I saw the geographical landscape that made the text more real.
On several occasions before or after class at Jerusalem University College, I would jog around the Old City and end up at the Western Wall. I would come to the wall with my kippet, a Jewish head covering, on the back of my head. I would get a prayer book. Kiss the wall. And then rock back and forth while I was praying. There I would pray for about a half-hour. I can still hear the buzz of Modern Hebrew as the prayers of God’s chosen people rose above that great architectural wonder we call the Second Temple, built by King Herod.
Turn Up the Volume Please!
For Centuries God’s people have filled His ears with prayers from their heart and soul that flowed out through their lips. The purpose of this message is to move you from mere whispers to crying out. When you look closely at God’s Word in the original Greek and Hebrew, most instances of prayer include some sort of audible sound. Now the kind of sound may vary from word to word. It might be a low whisper on one end of the spectrum to thunderous shouts. Please observe this truth carefully friend: When the prayers in the Bible that feature Calling Out or Crying Out are followed by a promise of God hearing or delivering, the verb for “to call” or “to cry,” includes the Hebrew emphasis of audible sound.
Did you catch that! Stick your ear up to the pages of holy script and listen. God’s Word is alive with sound.
Mark these passages down for further study and you judge for yourself. One way to check this out is to get several translations of the Bible and compare the passages. (By the way, just as a side-bar, one of the sure-fire ways to grow in your faith is to change translations for devotional study from time to time.) Back to my point about using a variety of translations, some writers make sure the volume is turned up in their translation.
Well, let’s do just that. Let’s turn up the volume. In the book of Psalms over a dozen scriptures can be found with enhanced volume:
“And call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you and you will honor me.” Psalm 50:15
“The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth.” (Psalm 145:18
A closer look at the word call in Hebrew, qara, reminds us that the volume of this word is turned up because it means “calling aloud,” or “crying out.”(3) From the Layman’s Parallel Bible we read Psalm 145:18, as follows: “He fulfills the desires of those who reverence and trust Him, He hears their cries for help and rescues them.”
Did you catch that? If David doesn’t convey this truth, then there is no reason going down this road. Let’s see how the Sweet Singer of Israel, the Giant Killer produced vital faith in God.
“The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears are attentive to their cry.”(Psalm 33:15
“Hear my prayer, O Lord; let my cry for help come to you.” Psalm 102:1
Do you see the emphasis? The word used here is the Hebrew word, shava, which conveys a high-pitched shout. (4) And an actual shriek, as if someone is in agony or grief, is the root word, tsa’aq, which is associated with the text in the following verse. (5)
“The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.”
Psalm 34:17
Need I go on to include Psalm 61:1; Psalm 3:4; 30:2; Psalm 4:3; 28:1-2; and Psalm 142:1?
But that’s not all there is. We could survey the Bible and find the names of people who in desperation cried out:
The Children of Israel
“During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. God heard their groaning.” Exodus 2:23-25
Peter on the Sea of Galilee
“’Come,’ he said. Then Peter got out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’” Matthew 14:29b-30
Do you remember Jonah’s plight?
“He said, ‘In my distress I called (cried) to the Lord, and he answered me.’” Jonah 2:2
Solomon instructs us in the same spirit
“And if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding…” Proverbs 2:3
Does Crying Out Really Make a Difference?
That’s the theology. What about real life? Are there people who have cried out and experienced God’s deliverance? Several testimonies from Bill Gothard’s book, The Power of Crying Out, answer that question.
“O God, Deliver Me!”
On a wintry day, a father was driving on a southern Illinois highway to visit his son at his university. Suddenly his vehicle began spinning out of control on a patch of ice he hadn’t seen, and he was headed for the roadside ditch. He cried out, “O God, deliver me!” Then, it was as if a giant hand righted the car back on the road.
The father rejoiced in this deliverance and continued driving. About twenty minutes later, he hit another patch of ice and spun out of control. This time he simply exclaimed, “Oh, no!” - and his vehicle ended up in the ditch. What was God teaching him?
“O, God, Deliver My Father from Unemployment!”
A teenage boy, who stated openly that he didn’t believe in God, was asked why. “Our family was going through a very hard time,” he explained, “and I prayed that God would help us - but nothing happened.”
On the other hand, another family with a teenager was in great need. The father had been out of work for more than a year though he was actively seeking employment. His family prayed consistently for a job for him. His teenage daughter discussed the family’s problems with me (Bill Gothard), and I suggested some ideas for employment for her father. She then passed along these ideas to him.
In response, he carefully explained why each suggestion wouldn’t work. The girl’s hopes for a solution vanished. Later that day, she walked out to a quiet place, where she did more than pray. She cried out, “O, God, deliver my father from unemployment!” The next day the father was offered an excellent job and started work immediately.
“O God!”
Another father tells this story: I was $20,000 in debt with unsecured loans. For two years I had been trying to sell some land to cover the debt, but I couldn’t even get a phone call of interest. I tried realtor after realtor without success. Finally, in desperation, I walked into the woods and cried, “O, God!” That’s all that came out. My voice failed as emotion flooded me, and I groaned in the spirit.
The next day, a couple told my wife, they’d heard we had land for sale. Within twenty-four hours of crying out, we had an agreement to sell the land for $20,000. Praise God! We are now debt-free and living by God’s financial principles.
Who Needs To Cry Out?
Those who are back against a wall, those who are in dire straights, or those facing an hour of National crisis like September 11th need to cry out. These and other events come upon us like a thief in the night. Are you ready? Psalm 107 reveals 4 days of trouble, hours of crisis and moments of fearful need. The answer for each day, hour or moment was to Cry Out! Look closely and see the pattern.
1. Wanderers Are Retrieved When They Cry Out To God.
(4) Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle. (5) They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away. (6) Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them from their distress.
2. Prisoners Are Released Because They Cry Out To God.
(10) Some sat in darkness and the deepest gloom, prisoners suffering in iron chains, (11) for they had rebelled against the words of God and despised the counsel of the Most High. (13) Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them out of darkness and the deepest gloom and broke away their chains.
3. The Sick Are Restored When They Cry Out To God.
(17) Some became fools through their rebellious ways and suffered affliction because of their iniquities. (19) Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them from their distress.
4. The Storm-Tossed Are Rescued If They Cry Out To God.
(23) Others went out on the sea in ships; they were merchants on the mighty waters. (27) They reeled and staggered like drunken men; they were at their wit’s end. (28) Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and He brought them out of their distress.
Why does God want us to learn to cry out? Because this life on earth is just a dress rehearsal before the real production. Friend, God has created you for eternity. You were made to enjoy God. When you cry out to God and He answers, then your enjoyment of a relationship with Him increases. God is getting you ready for your future.
When you live in light of eternity, then everything in life changes. I see it over and over - when someone contracts a life threatening illness, like cancer, their whole world takes on new meaning. Suddenly they place a higher value on relationships instead of fame, wealth or even fun. As Rick Warren says, “Every act of our lives strikes some chord that will vibrate in eternity.” (6)
The sad thing is the only time most people think about eternity is when death is lurking in the shadows. Only a fool would go through life, when he or she knows death is inevitable and not make plans for it. You need to think more about your future and less about your present. You spent nine months in your mother’s womb. It was a staging area for the real thing. So our life on earth is just pre-school, a warm-up lap, a practice game for what is ahead.
The great biblical commentator from another century put it this way, “It ought to be the business of everyday to prepare for our final day.” (7)
My son Kenny who turned 12 yesterday loves to read. (He programmed a reminder that it is his birthday into our family computer. I was typing away and up pops a message reminding me, “It’s Kenny’s Birthday!” Smart kids these days!) He has a voracious appetite for reading. Left Behind. Star Wars. Chronicles of Narnia.
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis is a 7-book children’s series. While reading a devotional the other day for the start of my New Year Bible reading, the author Rick Warren referred to the final paragraph in book seven. I had Kenny go get the book and read me the last paragraph from C.S. Lewis’, The Last Battle, THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA:
“And as He spoke He no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and title page:
“Now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.” (8)
Your life is but a cover letter and a title page. You have a great story that is waiting to begin in eternity, one where every chapter is better and better than the one before. God has a plan and principled life for you here on earth, but the best is still to come. God offers you an opportunity beyond your lifetime. One day Jesus will say to those on His right, “Come, you who are blessed by my father, take your inheritance.” (Matthew 25:34)
Your life today is like the tip of a great North Atlantic iceberg. Your life in eternity is the iceberg below the surface that you don’t see. If you don’t start and stay with God, you can’t get there from here!
End Notes
(1) Melvin Newland, Now Is The Hour, sermoncentral.com.
(2) Bill Gothard, The Power of Crying Out, Multnomah Press, Sisters, Oregon, 2002, pg. 20.
(3) James Strong, The Exhaustive Concordance of The Bible, Hendrickson Publishing, Peabody, Mass. Pg. 104 in Hebrew and Chaldee Dicitonary.
(4) Ibid, pg. 114.
(5) Ibid, pg. 100.
(6) Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life, Zondervan Publishing, Grand Rapids Michigan, 2002, pg. 38.
(7) Ibid, pg. 40.
(8) C.S. Lewis. The Last Battle (Chronicles of Narnia), Scholostic Inc, New York, 1995, pg. 210-211.
