A Real Prayer

How long, O Lord? Will you forget
me forever?
How long will you hide your face
from me?
How long must I wrestle with my
thoughts
and every day have sorrow in
my heart?
How long will my enemies
triumph over me?
Look on me and answer, O Lord
my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will
sleep in death;
my enemy will say, "I have overcome
him,"
and my foes will rejoice when I
fall.
But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your
salvation.
I will sing to the Lord,
for he has been good to me.
Psalm 13

I love this prayer. The psalmist starts out sad and feeling betrayed by God. He cries out what is truly on his heart. I can really relate to the part where he asks, "How long must I wrestle with my thoughts?" When life is hard my thoughts are always trying to go down the wrong path. It is a battle to keep remembering the truth. Notice that by the end of the prayer the author can again praise God.
God wants us to speak what is truly on our hearts. I have done this and seen that God actually changed the circumstances. God is faithful. He will bring us back to being able to praise him. I love that the psalmist can be totally real. This is what God wants from us. I remember one time trying to be stoic about a situation. Then finally it got the best of me. I cried out to God, "I want out!"
His answer was, "Finally, you asked." Then he rescued me.
I am going to add a song that I have used before, but it fits so perfectly. The musician sings about how the honest cry of a breaking heart is sometimes better than a hallelujah.