Psalm 40Sample

Why do we cry out? What are some things that cause people to cry out for help?

For most of us, the entry point to prayer is a need for help. We know we can’t fix or face our troubles alone. Even when we’re scared, unsure, or we convince ourselves for a time that we can handle it, the truth is, God is our only hope. As the psalmist says in Psalm 73:25, “Whom have I in heaven but you?”

And yet, often, in a tucked away place in our souls, we find this thought: If I cry out, I might get hurt. To cry out for help is to be in a place of vulnerable risk. Or, as the psalmist teaches us, it’s to be in a place of vulnerable trust. 

Let’s discuss two questions that I think hinder our surrendering to a vulnerable trust in God—one where we are free to cry out without fear or pretense:

1) Does God really hear my cries?

2) Can I really trust Him?”

The Bible tells us because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, we are counted righteous before God. We get credit for Jesus’ righteousness in the eyes of God. (See Rom. 5:19; 2 Cor. 5:21; and Phil. 3:9.)

Does God hear your cries? Yes, He hears the cry of His children, the righteous.

Trust is a tender thing when we’ve been hurt or when we struggle with God’s goodness based on our experiences and our perspectives. 

The entire Bible is the story of God’s love for us, culminating in our rescue with the death and resurrection of Jesus and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit into each of us, sealing us (Eph. 1:13) for the day when all things will be made right and new (Rev. 21:5).

How do we know we can trust God? Because He proved He is trustworthy by showing the ultimate display of love for us. “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). If we believe He loves us, then we must believe that we can trust Him. His love took Him to the depths, and when we’re in the depths, it is His love that preserves us (Ps. 40:11).