Keeping the Faith; Never losing Hope; Always Loving

I Samuel 1:15-16 “Oh no Sir! She replied. “I haven’t been drinking wine or anything stronger. But I am very discouraged, and I was pouring out my heart to the Lord. Don’t think I am a wicked woman! For I have been praying out of great anguish and sorrow.”

Here this woman is crying out to God in a way that looks like intoxication. She is pouring her heart out to God with a complete abandon and raw emotion that it looks like the actions of a drunk. To the man looking at her, its very uncomfortable and he assumes that like all other drunks she is out of control. What it is about this kind of prayer that God loves? What does it mean to turn to God in our raw emotion instead of turning to other things of the world? What does it mean to pray out of great anguish and sorrow? What does it mean to be broken before the Lord? In her pouring out to God, it’s a prayer that cannot be ignored; it’s a brokenness that a loving God cannot allow to go unnoticed. God loves the fact that this woman turns to him in her anguish with such passion that the world thinks she’s drunk. Ironically, the world is right, she is drunk, but its an intoxication of crying out to God with the pleas of her heart.

I am so moved by this text this morning. What does it mean for me for practice intoxicated prayer? I can remember a time in my life when I turned to other things for the intoxicated pleas of my life that only fed into my sorrow and anguish. I now know the truth of this text; I now know that intoxicated prayer is the direction of my pain and sorrow that brings about a transformation of my brokenness. When I turn to God in my anguish and sorrow with this raw emotion, the God revealed in Jesus Christ does not ignore that plea. God hears that plea and is compelled to act. In this intoxicated prayer I plead with the raw passion and emotion that Jesus used on the cross where He pleaded to God on my behalf. In my intoxicated prayer I become like Christ and participate in God’s redemptive plan for the world.

Lord Jesus, I want to thank you for showing this raw emotion and passion in taking on my sin and freeing me to live a new life. I want to thank you this morning for giving me an example to follow; for pointing me toward intoxicated prayer. Give me the courage and the confidence to practice this kind of prayer. Give me the courage to cry out to you on behalf of your people and I pray that you will hear my prayer. May my prayer be so full of raw emotion that others would speculate and you would rejoice. Amen!

Intoxicated Prayer is what Jesus desires from my prayer life!