“I poured out my heart, baring my soul to GOD.” Daniel 9:3 (MSG)

Have you ever prayed, “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take”?

Or how about, “Bless this food to the nourishment of our bodies”?

Most people have prayed these well-known prayers at some point. But what do they mean? And do we really mean them?

So often we go through the motions of prayer, reciting words from memory and checking something off our list before moving on to the next thing.

God is not looking for emotionless, unauthentic prayers. He doesn’t care if you can deliver words someone else made up. God doesn't care how beautiful your prayers sound. In fact, he doesn't care as much about the words as he does your heart behind them.

Whatever you are asking God for in prayer—whether it's a physical, material, spiritual, or emotional need—express your desire with emotion. God gave you emotions for a reason! You are made in his image, and he is an emotional God. So speaking from your heart pleases him.

When Daniel needed God’s wisdom for how to direct the Israelites, he “prayed earnestly to the Lord God, pleading with him” (Daniel 9:3 GNT). Pleading means to ask with emotion. It's more than a routine request. It's serious seeking and searching with all your heart and earnestly begging. God listens to our pleas.

The Message paraphrase of that same verse says, “I poured out my heart, baring my soul to GOD.”

This is not wimpy praying. This is gutsy praying. When was the last time you prayed like that?

I can tell you, without even knowing you personally, that the last time you prayed like that was likely when you were in deep pain. You don't pour out your heart and bare your soul to God when things are going great. You plead with him when you’re in pain.

But that doesn’t mean you only pray with emotion when you’re in a painful season. As you look around at what is going on in our world, your heart might break for the same things that break God’s heart. Tell him that. He is an emotional God, and he responds to your emotions with love.

Pour out your heart to God today. It will draw you closer to him and deepen your faith as you see how he answers your prayers.