{"id":344,"date":"2005-09-13T07:05:58","date_gmt":"2005-09-13T07:05:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/2005\/09\/the-life-of-a-prayerful-person-4.html"},"modified":"2005-09-13T07:05:58","modified_gmt":"2005-09-13T07:05:58","slug":"the-life-of-a-prayerful-person-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2005\/09\/the-life-of-a-prayerful-person-4.html","title":{"rendered":"The Life of a Prayerful Person: During the Return of Shalom"},"content":{"rendered":"

This finishes our series on the “life of a prayerful person,” which puts together the season the prayerful goes through in the Book of Psalms. We can begin with Shalom, experience utter confusion, only to turn the corner to watch Shalom return home again.
\nSometimes our confusion makes its way back to Shalom and we tell God that, too.
\nPrayer is sometimes nothing more than what Jacob did with God: a wrestling match<\/em>. God is game, the Psalms tell us, so enter the ring. My favorite prayer that wrestles for Shalom is Psalm 77. This psalm never gets to the resolution, but it points the way, and I have often thought this Psalm perfect for those bereaving death or separation.
\nIn brief, Asaph (the poet of this psalm) speaks of his \u00e2\u20ac\u0153day of trouble\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and of his inability to find any sleep at night. So he turns to prayer and that doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t work either: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I think of God, and I moan.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d He questions God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s goodness and asks if God has failed to remember his covenant with his people: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Has God forgotten to be gracious?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nThen the content changes: instead of moaning, Asaph begins to recount \u00e2\u20ac\u201c before God \u00e2\u20ac\u201c what God has done in the past. And he gently trots through a number of things God has done that showed that God was faithful and a deliverer of his people. God, he informs God, created, and God opened the water for Israel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s liberation.
\nAnd it ends right there. I believe Asaph is taunting God with this thought: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153If you, O Lord, liberated in the past, what are you doing now?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nSometimes we get no further than where Asaph stopped: wondering if God is gracious. We may end there some days because it would be dishonest and pretence to think life is any better than it really is. For Asaph, night is upon him and it brings no relief from his \u00e2\u20ac\u0153day of trouble.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d God has delivered, he tells God, but will God do it again? That is the question.
\nSometimes Shalom returns.
\nAnyone who reads or recites the Psalms knows that the so-called first two books within the Psalms (1\u00e2\u20ac\u201d72) are filled with complaints by David. In fact, sometimes David seems to be complaining too much (but then I admit I was never King of Israel!). But David also knew the other side of complaint.
\nThe last section of Psalm 30 reads:
\nTo you, O LORD, I cried,
\nand to the LORD I made supplication:
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153What profit is there in my death,
\nif I go down to the Pit?
\nWill the dust praise you?
\nWill it tell of your faithfulness?
\nHear, O LORD, and be gracious to me!
\nO LORD, be my helper!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nYou have turned my mourning into dancing;
\nyou have taken off my sackcloth
\nand clothed me with joy,
\nso that my soul may praise you and not be silent.
\nO LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever.
\nHere David knows that his complaint has been heard. Where he once mourned, he now dances; he once wore sackcloth but now he dresses up in joy. He finishes it off as he should: \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcI will give thanks to you forever.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Until the next time he finds himself again in trouble with his enemies — this is how life is lived for the prayerful person in Psalms.
\nOne never reaches a state where confusion is eliminated, where everything is smiley faces, where everything is always Shalom. Life is like this, so prayer should be too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This finishes our series on the “life of a prayerful person,” which puts together the season the prayerful goes through in the Book of Psalms. We can begin with Shalom, experience utter confusion, only to turn the corner to watch Shalom return home again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":298,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-prayer-and-formation"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Life of a Prayerful Person: During the Return of Shalom - Jesus Creed<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2005\/09\/the-life-of-a-prayerful-person-4.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Life of a Prayerful Person: During the Return of Shalom - Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This finishes our series on the “life of a prayerful person,” which puts together the season the prayerful goes through in the Book of Psalms. We can begin with Shalom, experience utter confusion, only to turn the corner to watch Shalom return home again.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2005\/09\/the-life-of-a-prayerful-person-4.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2005-09-13T07:05:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"xscot mcknight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Life of a Prayerful Person: During the Return of Shalom - Jesus Creed","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2005\/09\/the-life-of-a-prayerful-person-4.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Life of a Prayerful Person: During the Return of Shalom - Jesus Creed","og_description":"This finishes our series on the “life of a prayerful person,” which puts together the season the prayerful goes through in the Book of Psalms. 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