Cave Praying

I cried unto the Lord with my voice; with my voice unto the Lord did I make my supplication Psalms 142:1

Those of us who are familiar with the life of David know that he was a fugitive for many years. In fact, he was a fugitive before he was a king. Saul chased him all over the land of Israel. He wanted to kill David so badly, until it actually drove him to insanity. Anyone who saw David was required to notify the king’s army or face treason. David’s life was in constant danger, and feelings of peace and security was not possible.

This psalm is a prayer that David prayed while he was hiding in a cave. It helps us to understand that situations will make us pray. When David went to the palace, situations were not the same as they were when he was running for his life. When he had a top army and unlimited financial resources, he didn’t view life in the same way he did when he was in that cave. No one was actively seeking to kill him. He was safe; and since there was no urgency, the complement to pray was not the same.

God will hear our prayer no matter where we are. We can be on the highest mountaintop or in the deepest valley, God hears us. He heard Jonah when he was drowning in the sea. Trapped in a strong undercurrent and tangled in seaweed, Jonah faced the probability that his life would meet a tragic end. So he prayed the prayer of a drowning prophet, and God sent a whale to swallow him up.

Caves have heard the best prayers, because caves create in us the necessity to pray. In our frailty and weakness, we see that all our hope depend upon our prayers to God. When we face the acute reality that without God’s intervention our life is over, we are in a cave. We are banished to die on Patmos like John or to lie in a dungeon awaiting execution like Peter.

That’s the time to pray like we never prayed before. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He (Spirit) does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans Romans 8:26 Message. Sometimes in those caves, we run out of words. We cannot express the pain and despair we feel. That’s when the Spirit takes over and helps us out.

I am sorry to say, but there are people who, except they are driven by a need to pray, they just will not pray. There are people who sing songs when they get sick that they never sing when they are well. It’s almost as if we save prayer as a last resort; our trump card so that when we have run out of options, try prayer.

This psalm is not just for David, it is for us also. Our first line of business is to make our appeal to God. We may face all kinds of doubts and fears, but if we are ever to come out of our present gloom, we have to cry out to God.

We have to cry out like we know He is there. David said that he cried out to God with his voice. He looked up, opened his mouth and petitioned the mercy of God. He knew that God was the only sure way out of that cave.

I poured out my complaint before him; I showed Him my trouble Psalms 142:2. When we are dealing with grief and pain, it helps so much to talk with God about it. Too often we try to hold things in hoping that it will past. After a while a dark cloud forms within, and the eyes of our faith grow dim. We become more susceptible to doubt and fear. When we’re in a cave, things don’t just go away. They stay until God moves them.

It’s not a bad idea to talk to a Christian friend or a pastor, but I wouldn’t make a priority of it. Many times they are in a deeper cave than we are. Make your full confession to God. If you are angry, tell Him. If you have sinned, tell Him. If you cannot go any further, tell Him.

God already knows about our failures. He knows how proud and fickle and unruly we’ve been. He knows all of our faults, and it’s pointless to try and hide a single detail.

You may be in a cave right now. I urge you to get into a quiet secret place and pour out your heart to God. Cast all your cares on Him. Get rid of those fears, miseries and complaints. Get them all out.

I looked to my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me (see verse 4). David could not find comfort in any other person. There was only one hope for Him, and that was God. It is the same way with us. We can attempt to pacify our pain with religious works and traditionalism, but it won’t work. Jesus Christ is the only way out of the deep dark never-ending situations we find ourselves in.

Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name verse 7. When we find ourselves in prison (mental and spiritual), God can help us get out. We cannot get ourselves out anymore than we can stop ourselves from going in. We can grab the bars and shake them, but they are unmovable. We cannot break them with our hands, and we cannot invent a device to shatter them. But God’s hands can breaks the bars; He alone can release us.

When God brought me out of sin, I praised Him all night long. I didn’t want to stop shouting. When the church service ended, I didn’t want to go home. I thought about Jesus Christ all the time, and I couldn’t wait to get back to church to praise Him. You see, I was in prison and He got me out. There was absolutely no doubt in my heart who brought me out of sin. I certainly couldn’t bring myself out; God broke those chains.

We need to understand that a believer wrote these words while he was under enormous persecution. When we become a Christian, we are different from those around us. Joseph wasn’t like his brothers, and for that reason, they persecuted him. I can imagine that many of Joseph’s prayers were the direct result of the misery his brothers caused him. No one can drive us into caves like our family members. They create in us the need to pray; they compel us to know God better.

David had been anointed king of Israel. God was getting him ready for something better. But in order to do that, God had to first break him into pieces. God uses situations to help us understand how to trust him. The cave was God’s choice for David. I’m sure that David would have preferred an easier route, but an easier route wasn’t God’s choice.

David was on his way to Jerusalem, but he had to stop by this cave. He had to live as an outcast before he could become a king. Often before we can be promoted or elevated, we must first be taken down. God first makes us hungry, and them He feeds us; He makes us thirsty and then gives us a drink. God took away everything and everybody in my life that I associated with religious success. When I saw that I had nothing, I cried to Him. Eventually He gave me the ministry I have today.

Are you on your way to heaven? Are you headed to a greater state of holiness? Do you want to be used greatly by God? If so, don’t be surprised if God sends you into a cave.

David learned to pray special prayers to God. He learned to trust God by crying out to Him for deliverance. He learned that even when he was all-alone, God was there with him. And He learned it all in the caves of life.

By: Edmund Brown