9-19-2019

Good Morning All,

     Psalm 18:6; “In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help.  From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ear."

    When I went to college, I studied psychology.  I found some of the theories and techniques somewhat interesting.  One of the “fad” theories at the time was something called “scream therapy”.  The idea was that if you were afraid or feeling apprehensive; you should just scream as loud as you could until the fear went away.  It may sound strange but for many people it really worked.  Then some “expert” in California decided you should sit around naked in a sweat lodge and try it.  That is when I gave up psychology.

      Yet, as strange as completely dressed scream therapy sounds, it does work.  There were many theories as to why but I think we can actually find the reason for it in Scriptures.  In the Scriptures, God continually tells us to “Call upon his name”.  He tells us to pray to him, to cry out to him, to plead with him and to seek him out.  Many people always ask, “Why pray to God if he already knows what is wrong?”  There are many reasons to pray to God but one of them is similar to the scream therapy.  When you identify what you are afraid of, it becomes easier to address them.

     One of the devil’s favorite tools to torment us with is fear.  Not a specific fear of something but a generic fear or unease.  Many of us have experienced this.  It doesn’t take long before that nagging doubt or fear grows and casts a long shadow over us.  It is this unease that causes us some sleepless nights.  So, God tells us to “Call upon him.”  Like our verse says, “From his temple he heard my voice.”  God hears you.  He invites us to tell him our problems.  This is a lot like confession of sins.  It is not for God’s benefit but for ours.  Just as confession helps us to bear our souls and release the sins which burden us, calling out to God helps us to identify what our fear is.  When we can identify it, we can reduce it and we can deal with it.  God uses our own prayers, our own words to help heal us.  I see this when I go on hospital visits or do some shut-in visits.  When people seem fearful and agitated, if you can get them to be as specific as they can about what it is they fear then you can begin to pray with them specifically and clearly.  They soon see that what they fear, although it can be serious, is not as great as the love that God has for them.  Once we get to that level; everything seems to get a little brighter.

    So, if you have fears or worries; pray about them.  Call upon the Lord in the day of trouble; he will hear you.  Your voice, no matter how weak or faint will reach his ears.  It will give you some peace and comfort.  It will give you hope.  God will deliver you.

Dearest Father, you invite us to bring before you our deepest fears and worries in order to give us healing and hope.  Give us the courage and the wisdom to seek out your comfort before and above everything else.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen

God’s Peace

Pastor Bret