Crying out to the Lord is an act of prayer and supplication, bringing our needs and desires before God. It involves calling upon the name of the Lord from a heart of humility, dependency, and trust in God’s power and willingness to hear and answer. Throughout Scripture, believers are instructed to cry out to the Lord in both good times and in distress.
Crying out implies an intense, fervent prayer. It is the “heart cry” that arises from a place of urgent need, pain, or passion. A cry arises from our inmost being – it is not a mere intellectual exercise but flows from the depths of our heart. When we cry out to God, we are recognizing our helplessness and complete dependence on Him, appealing to Him with our whole heart.
The Bible gives us many examples of crying out to God in desperate need, such as David in the Psalms crying out, “Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have given me relief when I was in distress. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!” (Psalm 4:1). Hannah cried out in her distress for a child in 1 Samuel 1:10-11, and God heard her and answered her prayer. The blind men in Matthew 20:30 cried out to Jesus for mercy and for Him to heal them.
Crying out goes beyond simply saying words; it conveys strong emotion and desperate dependence. Pastor Charles Stanley describes it as our “wordless expression of deep pain, heartache, or despair.” It is a natural response when we realize we cannot handle life’s difficulties on our own and urgently require divine intervention, comfort, wisdom, or deliverance.
We are to cry out to the Lord in both difficult and easy times. 1 Chronicles 16:8 instructs, “Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples!” Psalm 105:1 also says, “Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples!” We are to cry out to the Lord in praise and thanksgiving, not just in petition. The Psalms are full of examples of crying out to God in joyful praise.
God invites our crying out. He is not distant or aloof, but present and attentive to hear the pleas of His people. Throughout Scripture, God makes promises to hear us when we call to Him.
For example, God says in Jeremiah 29:12, “Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.” Similarly, Isaiah 65:24 declares, “Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear.” Psalm 18:6 assures us, “In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.”
God wants us to call upon Him. In fact, He is glorified when we cry out to Him because it demonstrates our dependence on Him, not ourselves. He invites our cries, assuring us He will hear and answer us according to His perfect will.
Crying out to the Lord produces many spiritual benefits:
- It ushers us into God’s presence. Psalm 27:8 says, “You have said, ‘Seek my face.’ My heart says to you, ‘Your face, Lord, do I seek.'” As we cry out to Him, we are drawn into His presence.
- It fills us with hope and courage. “I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me.” (Psalm 57:2)
- It links us to generations of fellow believers who have cried out to the same Lord over the centuries.
- It ignites our faith when God answers our desperate cries.
- It brings our emotions and pain to the surface so God can heal and restore us.
Furthermore, crying out to the Lord results in God’s promises and blessings to us. When we cry out to Him, He promises to:
- Rescue us from trouble – Psalm 18:6
- Deliver us from fear – Psalm 34:4
- Save us – Psalm 145:19
- Be with us in trouble – Psalm 91:15
- Show us His grace – Psalm 4:1
- Give us relief – Psalm 4:1
- Make us joyful – Psalm 9:14
- Renew our strength – Isaiah 40:31
- Give us wisdom generously – James 1:5
God also promises that ultimately He will wipe away every tear and eliminate all causes for crying out in distress. Revelation 21:4 declares, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” Until that glorious day, we always have reason for crying out to our compassionate Father!
How to Cry Out to the Lord
Scripture guides us not only to cry out but also how to do so rightly and effectively:
- Cry out from the heart. Our cries should flow from a heart of authenticity, humility, and raw transparency before God (Psalm 119:145).
- Cry out the name of Jesus. Call upon the name of Jesus, recognizing that salvation and answers come through Him alone (John 14:13-14).
- Cry out with emotion and passion. Hannah poured out her soul before the Lord with great anguish and grief (1 Samuel 1:15). Our emotion demonstrates the intensity of our need.
- Cry out God’s Word back to Him. Let our cries be filled with Scripture, proclaiming His promises back to Him (Psalm 119:49).
- Cry out continually. Be persistent and refuse to give up until an answer comes (Psalm 88:1). Wait expectantly on God as long as it takes.
- Cry loudly. Some prayers in the Bible are described as a loud cry. While God hears even our whispers, loud cries express the urgency of our need (Psalm 5:2).
- Cry out together. When a group cries out to God in unity, there is “strength in numbers” (Ezra 10:1; Acts 4:24).
- Cry out honestly. God wants us to transparently share our real feelings and needs. He can handle our doubt, anger, and fear (Psalm 77:1).
While God wants us to be bold and pour out our hearts to Him, it is also important that our crying out be respectful. After all, we are speaking to the holy, almighty Creator and King!
We must never assume God is obligated to answer on our timeline or in the way we expect. His ways are higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9). Even Christ cried out to be spared from crucifixion, but submitted to God’s higher plan by saying, “Yet not my will but yours be done” (Luke 22:42).
When crying out, we can be boldly honest yet also humble ourselves under God’s sovereign authority. Our cries are not “demands” but requests subject to a good Father’s perfect will.
Examples of Crying Out in Scripture
Here are some powerful examples of godly men and women crying out to the Lord:
- Moses – “Then Moses cried out to the Lord…” (Exodus 14:15). Moses cried out in desperate need when the Israelites were trapped between Pharaoh’s army and the Red Sea.
- Samson – “And Samson called to the Lord…” (Judges 15:18). Samson cried out to God when extremely thirsty after a fight with the Philistines.
- Hannah – “In bitterness of soul Hannah wept much and prayed to the Lord” (1 Samuel 1:10). Hannah cried out for a child, pouring out her grief and pain.
- David – “Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan, and he hears my voice” (Psalm 55:17). David continually cried out to God in times of distress.
- Jehoshaphat – “O our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you” (2 Chronicles 20:12). Jehoshaphat cried out when Judah was threatened with attack.
- Jonah – “From the belly of Sheol I cried out for help and you heard my voice” (Jonah 2:2). Jonah cried out desperately while in the belly of the great fish.
- Bartimaeus – “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Mark 10:47). Blind Bartimaeus persistently cried out for healing as Jesus passed by.
- Tax collector – “God, have mercy on me, a sinner” (Luke 18:13). The repentant tax collector cried out for God’s mercy and forgiveness.
- Jesus – “About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?'” (Matthew 27:46). Even Jesus cried out intensely to the Father from the cross.
These examples illustrate how crying out to God runs throughout all of Scripture as a natural response to pain, need, thanksgiving, praise, and desperation. God does not always deliver people instantly from their circumstances when they cry out, but He always hears and answers according to His divine wisdom.
When Should We Cry Out?
The Bible encourages crying out in all circumstances, not just in emergencies. While we often think of crying out during calamities, God also wants us to cry out:
- When fearful – “I cry aloud to the Lord, and he answers me from his holy hill.” (Psalm 3:4)
- When wronged – “In the day of my trouble I call upon you, for you answer me.” (Psalm 86:7)
- When worried – “Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you.” (Psalm 55:22)
- When in danger – “Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them.” (Psalm 107:13)
- When grieving – “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” (Psalm 34:18)
- When oppressed – “Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted.” (Psalm 10:17)
- When overwhelmed – “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)
- When repentant – “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love.” (Psalm 51:1)
- When thankful – “I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart” (Psalm 9:1)
- When joyful – “My lips will shout for joy, when I sing praises to you.” (Psalm 71:23)
Truly, any emotion we experience is an opportunity to cry out to God. He cares about our whole experience as His children, not just the dramatic rescues. Any time we feel deeply is a chance to connect with our compassionate Father and cry out to Him.
Hindrances to Crying Out
Although God always listens, sometimes things can hinder our crying out to Him. Hindrances may include:
- Sin: Known sin in our lives puts up a separation between us and God (Isaiah 59:2). We must repent through Christ to restore fellowship.
- Shame: Feelings of unworthiness can make us shrink back from crying out to a holy God (Genesis 3:10). But He invites us to boldly approach Him through Christ (Ephesians 3:12).
- Habit: If we are stuck in routine religious habits, we can forget how to truly cry out from the heart (Matthew 23:25).
- Over-analysis: Overthinking can paralyze our ability to just cry out sincerely to God (2 Corinthians 10:5).
- Anger: Being bitter with God can mute our willingess to cry out to Him (Lamentations 3:8).
- Spiritual warfare: Demonic forces try to discourage our crying out through condemnation, distraction, etc. We must persist and resist the devil through faith (James 4:7).
Rather than allow these hindrances to persist, we can proactively fight against them by repenting of any sin, renouncing shame and anger, practicing crying out from the heart, and persevering through doubt or discouragement. This liberates us to freely cry out to the Lord.
Crying Out is for Today
For contemporary believers, crying out remains a precious gift from God we can access at any time. As Scripture declares:
- “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.” – Psalm 50:15
- “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” – Hebrews 4:16
The same God who listened to the cries of His people thousands of years ago stands ready to hear us today. He has not changed:
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” – Hebrews 13:8
No matter what hardships we face or how intensely bad things get, we can always cry out to the Lord who will never leave or forsake His own:
“God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'” – Hebrews 13:5
Crying out connects us to the power and presence of Christ. He urges us to abide in Him:
“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” – John 15:4-5
Our loving Father stands ready to embrace His children who call upon Him. Let us readily cry out in whatever circumstance we face, trusting God to hear and act for His glory and our good.