How to emotionally open yourself to God

 Jesus wept. - John 11:35

Tears are a fundamental aspect of the human condition. Christian author Calvin Miller writes in his book, The Valiant Papers, on crying,

Crying is common in this world. It does little good to ask the reason for it. [Earth] is what one might call a weeping planet. Laughter can be heard here and there, but by and large, weeping predominates. With maturity the sound and reason for crying changes, but never does it stop. All infants do it everywhere—even in public. By adulthood most crying is done alone and in the dark. Weeping, for babies, is a sign of health and evidence that they are alive. Isn’t this a chilling omen? 

Not laughter but tears is the life sign. It leaves weeping and being synonyms. 

Yes, weeping and being are synonymous. Yet today, crying is seen as a sign of weakness, an emotion which should be suppressed for the sake of “being strong” in front of others. It leaves us to wonder, then, as to when in our lives this becomes the case. As Miller says, crying is a sign of life among children. But somewhere along the way, this changes.

Maybe today you need to shed a few tears with God. You’ve let emotions build up inside of you for so long that you need to get alone with God and weep. Open your emotional self to God and be fully known as you live your life authentically before Him.

Prayer Challenge

Pray that God would give you a heart of flesh, and that you’d live authentically before Him when it comes to your emotions.

Questions for Thought

When is the last time you cried?

What emotions have you built up inside of you that need to come out?