How Long?

How long, Lord, must I call for help,
    but you do not listen?
Or cry out to you, “Violence!”
    but you do not save?
³ Why do you make me look at injustice?
    Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?
Destruction and violence are before me;
    there is strife, and conflict abounds.
⁴ Therefore the law is paralyzed,
    and justice never prevails.
The wicked hem in the righteous,
    so that justice is perverted.  Habakkuk 1:2-4 (NIV)

My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long, “Where is your God?” Psalm 42:10 (NIV) 

Do you take God (and yourself) seriously enough to get pissed off at God? I mean, really let God have it? No eloquent prose or poetry, just “tell it like it is?”

Prayer is so much more than politely telling God what you have in the way of a “to do” list for him for the day. Prayer is honest speech and honest listening. Prayer is the crock pot of relationships. People who invest in one another can tell it like it is. The investment in one another is “no matter what.” Casual acquaintances employ a clipped politeness or flowery inflated speech (if they wish to impress.)

Not so with God. Only when we will honestly speak and honestly listen with the transforming reality of God and God’s power take hold of us and our situation. The world, our world is full of pain and grief and, I believe, God is addressing that through us, the followers of Jesus.

Go ahead; engage in a real conversation with your Maker.