God has invited us into a very personal relationship with Him. In truth, God not only invited us into a relationship with Him through Jesus, but He planned and prepared ways that we can deepen our fellowship with Him. One way to deepen our relationship with God is through prayer.  

Prayer deepens our fellowship and trust in God because we can literally pour out our hearts to God in prayer. We can become very personal with God and express our deepest fears, desires, hurts, doubts, and confusions.

Our prayer life will depend on our view of God. If I view God as distant and uninvolved in my life, or as a punitive task master, then I will miss out on knowing God for who He is. I will not trust Him, and will not be vulnerable and open with Him. I will not have genuine intimacy with Him, because I will hold back my true thoughts, feelings and questions.

In the Psalms we see people who trusted God and opened their heart to Him.  They loudly and boldly proclaimed their feelings and wrestled with tough questions before the throne of God.

Questions Reveal Intimacy
As we read through the Psalms, we see that the psalmists asked some, what I would call, “gutsy” questions. Yet these questions reveal an understanding of God and of a personal relationship with God. Such questions show vulnerability, an ability to pour out our weaknesses, fears, confusion, and our pain to God.

Such questions spring from a faith in God, a trust in His openness to us; His care and concern for us, and a belief in His involvement in each one of our lives.

These questions are so emotionally revealing that at times they sound more like a demand for an answer, and sometimes are just that. To me these questions imply that only someone who knows God deeply can risk being that intimate.

Urgent Intimate Questions
Look at some of the questions that the psalmists felt at ease asking God.

In Psalm 13:1-2, David, in his agonizing, asks these questions of God.
“How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart?  How long will my enemy triumph over me?”

In two relatively short verses David puts forth 5 questions that reveal the David’s trust in a God who desires and accepts intimacy.

David is asking God –Yahweh, the great almighty eternal God, who is the source of all life and who has all power, “How long is this difficult situation going to go on? How long will You, God let this happen?” This is genuine openness.

David is so vulnerable that in the next question he tells God, “I feel like you have forgotten me. You have gone off and left me in this difficulty alone. Where are You my God, my Friend, my Helper?”

David gets gut level open, telling God his feelings, and what he suspects God is doing. We see these hear felt expressions these questions: “Are You hiding Your face from me? Have You turned Your back on me? Do you not want to be in a relationship with me?”

David is ratcheting up in his vulnerable faith and is telling God that this difficulty is too heavy for him to bear alone. It is on his mind day and night. He is sick with sorrow about this. He is wrestling about what to do and why it is happening. Perhaps David is sleepless and restless and pacing and calling out to God, being vulnerable and asking question after question demanding an answer.

The questions David asks God in Psalm 13 are an example of intimacy with God.

Other Questions
As we read through the Psalms we see many examples of such intimacy revealed in questions. Read and reflect on the intimacy with God that these questions imply.

• “Why, Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” Psalm 10:1
• “Will the Lord reject forever? Will he never show his favor again? Has his unfailing love vanished forever?  Has his promise failed for all time?  Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has he in anger withheld his compassion?” Psalm 77:7-9
• “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?” Psalm 22:1-2 (A Messianic saying, yet a question David asked).
• “… save me because of your unfailing love.  Among the dead no one proclaims your name. Who praises you from the grave?” Psalm 6:4b-5

It is important to not that many of the things I express to God in intimate conversation may not be right. Intimacy involves an openness with God about what we are thinking and feeling with the understanding that God accepts our openness, even when our conclusions are not correct.  At times I have thoughts about God and what He is doing, but my perceptions and understandings may not be grounded in the truth about God and His character, I express these misunderstandings and feelings to God, and God understands and accepts us. This is intimacy.
God will lead us into right thinking, but does not turn away from us. He welcomes intimacy with us.

Reflection: What do you ask God?
As I read through these psalms and look at the events in the psalmist’s life I am drawn to the intimacy that the psalmist had with God.

• Do I trust God enough to ask my own very vulnerable questions?
• Do I dare to be that personal with God? It seems to me that God is calling us to this very intimacy.

I encourage you to read through the Psalms and look at the questions the psalmists asked. Begin to become more personal with God, tell Him your true feelings no matter how wrong or ugly they seem, and ask God the questions you have on your heart.