Walk With Him: Pour Out Your Whole Soul

The original name for the book of Lamentations was How. “How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! how is she become as a widow! she that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary!” (Lamentations 1:2). How could this terrible thing happen? How could Jerusalem be destroyed? The verses are a pouring out of deep sorrow, misery, lament and regret. “Behold, O Lord, for I am in distress: my bowels are troubled; mine heart is turned within me; for I have grievously rebelled…” (Lamentations 1:20).
Then, in chapter 3, the turning, the healing begins. “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him” (Lamentations 3: 22, 23, 25).
Pouring out is the beginning of healing. Rather that stuffing down emotions or editing out feelings that may seem socially unacceptable, find the time and the space to say or write all that is within you. “But this is not all; ye must pour out your souls in your closets, and your secret places, and your wilderness” (Alma 34:26). Pouring out creates space for perspective, sorting, and discovering new answers to old problems. Above all, it creates room for Him to enter.

“Find a quiet place where you can regularly go. Humble yourself before God. Pour out your heart to your Heavenly Father. Turn to Him for answers and for comfort. Pray in the name of Jesus Christ about your concerns, your fears, your weaknesses—yes, the very longings of your heart. And then listen! Write the thoughts that come to your mind. Record your feelings and follow through with actions that you are prompted to take. As you repeat this process day after day, month after month, year after year, you will ‘grow into the principle of revelation’” (President Russell M. Nelson).
“And now the spirit of Alma was again troubled; and he went and inquired of the Lord what he should do concerning this matter, for he feared that he should do wrong in the sight of God. And it came to pass that after he had poured out his whole soul to God, the voice of the Lord came to him...” (Mosiah 26:13, 14).