Is it ok to complain Pastor Steven Furtick

When David says, I pour out before him my complaint.

At this point, I want to pull David aside and say,

didn't you know that you were supposed to bless the

Lord at all times and his praise continually be in

your mouth? And David said back to me, yeah, I

wrote that Psalm too. That's Psalm 34, but this one's

a little different. Because sometimes before my mouth can be

filled with praise, I have to pour out something else

to make room for what I know. See, now this

is the point of the sermon where people start getting

real confused on me because we have been taught sometimes

that unless we can come to God the right way,

we can't come to him at all. And the fact

of the matter is a lot of us don't pray,

don't worship, and don't enter into the presence of God

in that specific intangible way wherein he can heal the

issues of your heart because we are scared of what

would happen if we really opened ourselves up and told him.

In fact, I was talking to my friend. I'm not

going to say his name. I don't want to embarrass

Eric Phillips.

But we were talking the other day how for us,

it's very difficult for us sometimes to to tell God

how we're feeling, which.

Is funny because I have a feeling.

That he already knows how I'm feeling, but I'm scared

to tell him. And here's why I'm scared to tell him.

I know why I'm scared to tell him because of

something my dad used to say. My dad used to say,

whenever I would start crying, he had this line he

would say to get me to stop. And the line was,

finish it if you know it, if you don't.

Stop that crying, I'll give you Your dad was an

abusive maniac as well. No, my dad was a great dad.

And I get it. And I get it.

But when David uses this image, I was surprised because

I'm so used to the Psalms being a.

Place where we pour out our praise.

I was surprised to see David pour out his complaint.

Because I didn't think you were supposed to.

Complain if God was good to you.

And I read the whole psalm and.

He started the psalm saying he was pouring out his

complaint and he ended the psalm by saying that God

was good to him and I couldn't put the two

together because what do you have to complain about if

God has been good to you? I'm sometimes afraid to

complain in the presence of God, and so I don't

pray because I can't say what I know I'm supposed

to say, so I don't say anything because, I'm going

to tell you, I'm scared that if I say what

I really want to say, God might give me something.

To cry about.

I'm scared sometimes to pray to God before I come

preach what I really feel like praying to God, which is,

I'm not feeling this today. Because I'm scared if I

say that to him, he'll put something on my voice

box where I can't preach. I'm afraid if I complain

to God about my children that he might look on

somebody else who's been praying that they could have kids and.

They can have kids.

And here I am complaining about something that I prayed

and asked God to give me.

And I feel kind of guilty.

So now I stand at a distance and I won't

tell God what I have to say. But I learned

something about God is that he is the only safe

place where I can pour out my complaint. And if

I don't learn how to pour out my complaints in

his presence, they will spill over somewhere else. Where else

can I go but his presence?

Who else could I tell but the one who knit me?

Where else is it safe? What are you going to do?

You're going to go on Facebook and tell your troubles?

The presence of God is not a place.

To bypass your emotions. It's a place to process them.

And what that means is this. The only way.

Into the presence of God is from where you really are.

Not from where you wish you were.

You can start your prayers with, oh, sovereign God of the.

Seas and knee.

And dorian sydney australia oh god sovereign father you can

start there that's preferable but in case you can't in

case it's one of those days in case you don't

even feel saved in case you just want to Bash

some heads.

Bust some heads.

In case it's one of those days, in case you

don't feel God at all, you know it's okay to

tell God, I don't feel you right now.

But I need you. God, come to my rescue. You

know who I am. You know how much I need.

How in the world are you going to get to

the place.

The attitude, the mindset that God wants you to have

and where he wants you to be if you don't

start from where you really are?

So it gives me permission.

If David did it, let somebody say, if David did it,

if David did it, so can I. Pour out my

Complaint in his presence. And he said, he said, I

cried aloud to the Lord.

Allowed.

The word has different meanings if you spell it, you know.

You're allowed to complain.

Allowed.

And this is something that took me a long time

to learn because I always tried to fight what was

going on in my mind, in my mind. The only

problem with fighting what's going on in my mind, in my.

Mind, is that is enemy held territory.

Because I have strongholds in my mind. And when I

go to pray and my heart is overwhelmed, my mind

can't keep up with my spirit. Because my spirit knows

what I need to pray, but my mind gets in

the way.

Who am I helping?

So far, who am I helping?

So what I do, I wish I would have brought

them out. I didn't remember to bring them out. I

have some AirPods.

That I put in my ear so people will think

I'm having a conversation on the phone in case they

look at my car or in case they see me

going through, well, I don't ever go to Target, but

if I happen to go to Target once a year,

my annual trip to hell, I would put in my

air pod. And I don't fight my mind in my

mind because I can't win the level on the level

that I'm fighting on, I have to get altitude. I

have to fight from an elevated place. So I fight

my mind with my mouth. You can pray any way

you want to, but when you really get in a.

Situation, you don't fight in your mind. You pray out loud.

I want you for the next seven days, the next

seven days, you can do whatever you want after that.

But for the next seven days, tell somebody for the

next seven days, you're allowed to pray aloud.

I want you to stop. I want you to stop closing.

Your eyes and worrying and calling it prayer.

Because you can think a thousand things at once. How

many can?

How many aren't even paying attention to me right now?

You got something in the oven. But you can only

say one thing at a time. So when I open

my mouth, I'm not just being emotional. I'm being strategic.

In fact, why don't you just shout right now to

let God know?

Come on, Rock Hill. Shout somebody in the back of Ballantyne.

Shout in the overflow. Let's fill the place with praise.

And see what I love about God is I don't

have to start with the script. Oh, thou mightiest, onlyest, goddest,

onest of the sunnest and the starsest. I can look

at God and say, God, I hate myself right now.

Did you see how I just acted? And God will say, yeah.

Matter of fact, I did.

And I see how you're going to act tomorrow. And

I decided to send my son to die for.

You with complete foreknowledge of all of your faults.

If I make my bed in hell, you are there.

If I say I'll dwell in the uttermost parts of

the sea, God is in the depressed place.

God is in the darkness. God is in the cave. Hey,

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