By Bill Gaultiere © 2009, 2010
What do you do when you’ve been mistreated and God doesn’t seem to answer your prayers? How do you pray when God seems distant and unconcerned about your pain? We all go through these trials. They don’t mean that God is angry with us or that we’re not good Christians. It may be a dark night of the soul.
In dark night trials we tend to feel alone, but we’re not! The Psalmist understands and in Psalm 44 he shows us how to pray in the dark. Many of our Bible heroes went through these times, most notably Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane when he sweat drops of blood and on the cross when he cried out, “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?” (Psalm 22:1).
“Deep Darkness” is a prayer I wrote inspired by Psalm 44. It’s a prayer for prevailing with God when you’re in a Dark Night of the Soul or other trial.
What if you’re not going through a Dark Night of the Soul? It’d be wise to “watch and pray” with Jesus now and to learn to pray this way before you’re in a dark night. This way you can cultivate the mature trust and confidence in God that will enable you to persevere through upcoming trials with a loyal and patient love for God. And you can pray for someone else who is going through a dark night now.
Deep Darkness
Awake, O Lord! Rouse yourself!
Do for us what you did for our fathers –
You made them to flourish;
Redeem us because of your unfailing love.
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My Lord has let me be mistreated:
I have been humbled by adversaries,
I have been reproached by neighbors,
People shake their heads at me.
~
Yet, you bring me victory, O Lord –
By your right hand,
By your strong arm,
By the light of your face –
For you love me.
~
We rely on you, our King and our God;
We do not trust merely in our own strength.
In your kingdom, O Lord, we boast all day long;
We praise your name forever – Selah.
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My Lord’s face is hidden from me:
I am as a sheep to be slaughtered,
I am left clinging to the dust,
Deep darkness has covered me.
~
Yet, I remember your name, O Lord –
With my heart’s cry,
With my hands outstretched,
With the steps of my feet –
For you know all things.
~
We rely on you, our King and our God;
We do not trust merely in our own strength.
In your kingdom, O Lord, we boast all day long;
We praise your name forever: Jesus Christ!
(Inspired by Psalm 44)
In the Dark Night Remember God is another Psalms prayer to help you when you’re going through a Dark Night of the Soul.
In our Soul Shepherding ministry one of our specialties is helping people who are going through a dark night of the soul.
William Gaultiere, Ph.D. & Kristi Gaultiere, Psy.D. ~ http://www.soulshepherding.org
