Have you ever prayed and felt that God was "asleep"? Does Heaven's door seem to be made out of iron? Have you ever felt abandoned by God? If you've ever desperately prayed for a situation that's beyond your control or that is too hard to bear, then you're probably very familiar with these questions.





Many well intentioned people have taught over the years that it is wrong to “wake” God or to question God’s “inactivity”. They say things like, “you should accept it as part of God’s plan”. “You should resign yourself to what God is doing and not question it.” Though these may not be entirely untrue, this does not mean that we cannot come before the LORD and present our complaint and in a manner of speaking “rouse God”. In many places, the people of God asked Him to “wake up” and defend them. In Psalm 44:23-26 the Bible tells us:

“Awake!

Why are you sleeping, O Lord?

Rouse yourself!

Do not reject us forever! Why do you hide your face?

Why do you forget our affliction and oppression? For our soul is bowed down to the dust; our belly clings to the ground. Rise up; come to our help! Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love!”





Not to spend too much time in background, but this Psalm, though it is uncertain the historical period when this happened, one thing is certain, it must’ve followed a great defeat in battle. The Psalmist recounts what Yahweh had done for Israel in the past and then moves to present his complaint before the LORD.





Can you relate to the Psalmist? Have you prayed and reminded God of what He had done in the past to then question the fact that you feel He’s asleep? Let’s clarify something, God does not sleep or slumber as Psalm 121:4 tells us. The phrase “wake up, LORD!”, comes from our perspective of what is happening at the moment. We are being pressed and feel desperate or perhaps have experienced defeat in our lives, we want to be delivered immediately, and Yahweh seems to be unresponsive.





So to answer the question, is it okay to wake God? The answer biblically is a definitive, yes. There are many instances, besides this psalm in which this has happened. One time, the LORD was literally woken up in the midst of a storm. In Matthew 8:23-27, Jesus was asleep in the back of the boat and the disciples woke him up, and Jesus calmed the winds and the waves. The disciples were so scared of the huge storm that Mark tells us the they said to Him, “Teacher! Don’t you care that we’re going to die?” (Mark 4:38)





Habakkuk, the Old Testament prophet, said, “How long, Yahweh, must I call for help and you do not listen or cry out to you about violence and you do not save?” The prophet was “rousing” God to action in a time when injustice and sin were running rampant in Judah.





The one thing to notice about all these instances - and I would strongly suggest that you read the full passages to get the most out of them - is the fact that God welcomed the “waking” each time and met the person or the nation to show His strong hand and deliver. Each time, God showed that He wasn’t asleep, but that He was working a much greater purpose than the people living in the situation could grasp at the time. And He always responded to the sincere, repentant, humble prayer of His people.





So the next time that someone tells you that your prayers need to be changed from a “waking prayer” to a “prayer of resignation”, remember that Jesus welcomes our “waking” of Him and He wants to meet us in that place where desperation meets prayer and His grace.



