Often my prayers have been more a “bitch session” rather
than something that could be prayed in a public setting. Is this acceptable
Biblically? Do we have examples of this in the Bible? Or should we just focus
on the Lord’s Prayer and build from there?
Think about it this way, the name God gives Jacob and His
Chosen People is “Israel” which literally means “Struggle with God” so I
believe God not only accepts the struggle but welcomes it. We see the father of
the nation, Abraham, getting into multiple confrontations with God. The first
was when God told him He would be the father of a great nation and he scoffed
at that and took matters into his own hands in Genesis 16 with Hagar. In
Genesis 19 Abraham barters with God to save Sodom and Gomorrah like in a Middle
Eastern market. Even after being the father of the nation of Islam, God
continued to promise and he laughed at God, yet at an old age bore Isaac
(Genesis 21). Finally, in Genesis 22, Abraham is put the the ultimate test by
God and does not argue.
Moses in Exodus 32 argued for the sparing of the nation when
the made the Golden Calf while he was on the mountain receiving the Ten
Commandments. The argument compelled God to spare the people and Moses then
freaked out on the people. Later Moses unsuccessfully argued with God to allow
him to enter the Promised Land, God allowed Moses to see it, but not enter.
The Book of Jonah is a story of an adversarial relationship
with God. Jonah is told to preach against Nineveh and he runs. When he finally
submits, he preaches they repent and God spares them. With that Jonah gets
upset and argues with God about not destroying them. In both instances Jonah’s arguments
fell on deaf ears.
In John 2:1-12, Mary debates with Jesus that He save the
wedding. This led to His first miracle of turning water into a fine wine. Yet
in Matthew 26:36-56 Jesus prays to God in the Garden of Gethsemane that God
will spare His life and we know how that was answered. In a final in Luke 23:34
Jesus asks God to forgive those who killed Him.
So we see time and time again man and God in a heated
debate, sometimes God submits and other times He does not. The key here is not
to fear God into being a cowering chicken, but to stand up when you feel
necessary and try to change God’s mind. It HAS been done before! Those who
believe the future is written in stone are mistaken, it’s wide open and there
for all to enjoy. I think the key is, know when it’s time to stop the “bitch
session” and move on with reality.