How Long?

It’s been two weeks since First Fifteen season two closed, our Journey with Jesus where we prayed through Matthew’s gospel. In coronavirus time, that’s like two days…or two years, you choose. Have you been finding yourself asking God lately, “How long?”

How long before we get to go out and enjoy restaurants, sporting events, worship? How long before we turn the corner on this virus? How long to rebuild the economy? Lots of questions

black and white tunnel with little traffic in Norway illustrating loneliness, questioning and darkeness of asking "How long?"
the dark tunnel of “how long?”

We start First Fifteen season three today by turning to the Psalms, specifically Psalm 13. We’ll be praying through the Psalms for this season, both our favorites and some lesser known ones so we can grow closer to God, more conversant with the full range of scripture and prayer language.

To pray to God “How long?” is very Biblical. Psalm 13 repeats that refrain four times in the first two verses.

How long Yahweh will you forget me—forever? How long will you conceal Your face from me? How long must I hold advice within and not act, experience grief in my heart by day? How long will my enemy stay on top of me?” – Psalm 13:1-2

The Hebrew phrase here is ad nah – how long? It is plaintive, insistent and persists. God is big. He can take it. Our questions don’t destroy him; they show how helpless and indignant we feel.

But even though God hears us without question, he doesn’t leave us there. He wants to bring us to a better place. Psalm 13 is short. It only has six verses. But read (and pray) it to the end.

Listen to the podcast and subscribe to it or follow it if you haven’t already. Also, you can download a sheet that takes you through the process we use to read / listen to God’s Word, meditate on it and pray it back to him.