Prayer of the Forsaken

The Concept

To be honest, I didn't want to do this one. To take this on feels a bit like shooting myself in the foot. I mercifully do not feel "forsaken." But, I am going through this book based on a certain pattern, and rather than skip a chapter, I hope to find value in understanding this prayer before it needs to be prayed.

The Prayer of the Forsaken is praying through a time in your life when you feel the absence of God's presence. It is a lament; it is an expression of longing and of shaking one's fists; it is a posture of refusing to let go and persisting to live up to what you have already attained (Phil 3:16). Foster says, it is doing what we know to do. We pray, we listen, we worship, we carry out the duty of the present moment. What we learned to do in the light of God's love, we also do in the dark of God's absence.

David prayed many times, "How long, O Lord, will you be hidden?" For reasons we may never understand, there will be times in our lives where God seems removed. We may find we have structured our faith on vain securities - on warm fuzzy worship services, on awe-inspiring Bible readings, on human fellowship, or even on Holy Spirit goosebumps - rather than on God alone. There are times when he chooses not to perform at our beck and call. When we recognize God's absence, we strip down our dependence on results and crave the source: God himself. We find out true desire is not to master God, but be mastered by him.

Foster says that moments like this are "a definite experience of prayer, to be expected, even embraced." Personally, I believe God is ever present, that he will draw near to those who draw near to him, that those who seek him will find him, that he will answer those who call upon him. But many Christian fathers and mothers have described this Dark Night of the Soul, so I must believe our human awareness can become clouded to the presence of God. We can perceive a separation and be devastated by it. But I also must believe it is God's desire that we come out on the other side, more dependent on and more aware of his steadfast, unfailing love.

The Experience

I was able to come to terms with this type of prayer when I was shown that every moment of our human existence is in some way removed from the full presence of God. We are in a constant pursuit of a face-to-face relationship while separated by a glass darkly (1 Cor 13:12). This is our forsaken reality. How it would bless the Lord to know we crave more of him all the time, and not just when we are feeling abandoned!

I read Psalm 13 as part of this study and hope to remember it when I need it. It is short and perfect for a time of feeling separate from God. David's heart is in sorrow, his thoughts in turmoil, as he suffers separation from God. But ultimately, he sings praises, for he remembers "the Lord has been good to me." In Psalm 42:6, he says similarly: "My soul is downcast within me, therefore I will remember my God." Our memory is our gift. In times of dejection, we must learn to trust in what we have known of God's unchanging character.

For now, we know in part, but this is reason enough to hope and rejoice. 1 Peter 1:8: "Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy."