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 09/14/2024 – Prayer, and the Language of Tears

Baptizing tears... This is a description of the tears we cry in our prayer closets. Seeking the face of God moves us emotionally, and as we approach Him tears often flow. For the most part, people attribute tears to sadness or distress, and this is how the bible uses them in symbolism, but they are much more than that. People cry when strong emotion overcomes them... Great beauty, intense pain, fantastic joy, deep commitment, unbounded faith, the grandness of a moment before God, and other experiences of overwhelming sensory, emotional, or spiritual awakening.

The Holy Spirit often brings tears as he prays and makes intercession for us. Words aren't always enough to express what we are feeling. Have you had this experience in prayer? It isn’t an anomaly, it is the will of God who instilled in us the emotions we express, and the degree to which we feel them.

“Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”

Romans 8:26-27 KJV

Pastor E.M. Bounds wrote about this phenomenon. As he wrote, His vision of crying was limited to regret and contrition, but crying is much more than this. Here is how he describes tears...

"In themselves, tears are not rewarding. Yet, they have their use in prayer. Tears should baptize our places of supplication. The person who has never wept over his sins has never really prayed. Tears are sometimes a prodigal son's only plea. But tears are for the past; for so and wrongdoing."

Tears are offered in remorse and contrition, but they are much more than this. Bounds has missed the enormity of crying. I have heard tears referred to as a gift of the Holy Spirit... but they are even more than this. Tears are truly a gift of God that were given to us at creation; they are the pinnacle of emotion. Mothers cry at the first sight of their newborn babies, poets cry at the beauty of a sunset or depth of love, teachers cry when making strong points of truth, fathers cry at the weddings of their daughters. The list goes on, but in all cases there is strength involved in each occurrence... We are overcome by the strength and intensity of a moment that takes us beyond our ability to describe or feel in any other way.

This makes crying in prayer a natural occurrence. When we pray we are approaching God, and if we are not overcome by His grace and majesty, then we aren't there yet. Approaching God's presence is more than an intellectual exercise, it is an intense experience of our total selves... and if this doesn't overpower our ability to describe, or to feel, then we are flitting around the circumference of His being, and need to seek Him further. Jesus Himself wept during prayer:

“Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.”

Hebrews 5:7-10 KJV

So in your prayers, we shouldn’t avoid tears. If you feel the need to cry before God then let your tears baptize your prayer closet... No matter their source. Whether you cry them in joy, shame, contrition, sorrow, pain, love, or some overpowering awe... whatever the reason might be; God gave you the ability to communicate with Him though them. They are the ultimate evidence of the strength of any emotion, and the depth of our hearts. They are an emotional pressure relief valve, they are the ultimate language of love, and they are truly a gift of God.

I pray this morning that our eyes will be wet with tears as we kneel before God. I pray that we hold nothing back in our interaction with the Lord. I pray that we exercise the fullness of God's gift of tears as we feel His presence drawing near. I pray that we speak to God from the depth of our hearts, and beings, and that this is witnessed by our tears.

Prayer:

Father, thank you for the depth of emotion that we feel as we pray, and the tears that come as a result of it. Thank you for every teardrop that falls from our eyes, whether they be the result of contrition, awe, joy, or the overwhelming effect of experiencing you and your creation. Tears are the language of our hearts and souls, and we thank you for making us multilingual in this way. You bless us with the relief and release they provide us when we are wounded, the expression of sincerity brought by our remorse, and the contrition we feel as we confess our sins and transgressions. They make evident the fullness we find in every beautiful thing. In all powerful moments we find a tear awaiting us, and in every glimpse of you, we fathom the depth of our love for you in tears. Jesus wept, and in this we know that you weep too. We pray that our contrition brings tears to your eyes, and that the tears we shed as we love you causes you to shed tears… just as it does for us. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who was, and is, and is to come… made evident in every tear ever shed, and the expressed language of our souls as we feel you with us. Help us Lord to enter that realm where tears speak a language of truth and love, and sobs offer up the fullness of our beings to you. We look forward to the return of your Son Jesus to resurrect us from this world, and to both the tears that will flow as we see Him coming, and as we stand before you in judgement… tears of joy, mixed with contrition, love, a desire to be with you always, and the tears of a child’s heartfelt homecoming, as they catch their first glimpse of home, and their parents again. Cry for us Father, and taste the tears we shed for you and all you have created and done in this world, and our lives. Wipe away each and every tear of sadness and pain you have counted, and replace them all with the tears of peace, awe, joy, and every good and overwhelming emotion for which we have no spoken words. Let us talk in words and shed tears for all eternity, as we walk through your garden which is watered by the drops of rain that fall like tears from heaven. We thank you for the rain you send that brings life, and the tears we shed together that defines it. You are the God of life, love, and all that is good… hear our words as we pray them aloud, and taste the tears we weep, as our hearts and souls, empty themselves before you. Great are you, and greatly to be praised! Awesome are you. Beautiful and wonderful is your creation that inspires us. Let all of creation join with us as we sing, shout, and cry unto you… glorifying you in all things, and anointing you with our tears.

Amen, Amen, Amen!

“Jesus wept.”

John 11:35 ESV

“and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment.”

Luke 7:38 ESV

“You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?”

Psalm 56:8 ESV

“And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.”

Luke 23:46 KJV

“Tears of joy will stream down their faces, and I will lead them home with great care. They will walk beside quiet streams and on smooth paths where they will not stumble. For I am Israel’s father,”

Jerimiah 31:9 NLT

Rich Forbes