Talking to God When You Don’t Know What to Say

From Questions to Worship

Psalm 77

Introduction

Recently, I was deeply blessed by time spent with my cousin Talana. Being near her at the end of her life shaped how I think about faith, suffering, and honest prayer.

She understood that death hurts because love is real, not because faith is weak. She did not pretend otherwise.

She faced the honest questions about death that most of us spend our lives avoiding. She did not rush past them, deny them, or silence them.

She showed us that taking our questions to God is not a lack of faith, but one of its clearest expressions.

And her hope was never in who she was, but in what Jesus had done.

I pray I will never forget the sound of her voice as she looked at me and humbly said, “If Jesus dying for me is not enough, I have nothing else to offer.”

I do not know if I have ever witnessed a greater expression of faith.

Psalm 77 gives us language for moments like that. Moments when words feel hard to find, when silence presses in, and when faith does not collapse but leans toward God with trembling honesty.

This Psalm does not teach us how to escape pain. It teaches us how to talk to God inside it.

God invites hurting believers to talk to Him honestly and then trains their hearts to rest in what He has already done.

Psalm 77 shows us a simple but demanding rhythm of faith:

Name the pain.

Trust God with the questions.

Anchor your heart in what He’s done.

Suffering exposes what we really believe about God, because pain always presses our faith to speak.

A. Asaph’s suffering drives him toward God rather than into silence.

“I cried unto God with my voice… and he gave ear unto me.” (v.1)

Loud prayer reveals urgency, not irreverence.

Faith does not wait for emotional calm before it speaks.

Practice – Name the pain: Faith begins by saying out loud what hurts instead of pretending it does not.

B. Seeking God does not always produce immediate emotional relief.

“In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord.” (v.2)

“My soul refused to be comforted.”

Scripture normalizes faithful people who still ache.

Permission: Seeking God while still hurting is not spiritual failure.

C. Remembering God can initially intensify the struggle.

“I remembered God, and was troubled.” (v.3)

Honest prayer often surfaces pain we have suppressed.

Lament is faith choosing honesty over avoidance.

What pain have you learned to manage instead of bringing to God?

Transition: When suffering presses faith to speak, it often robs us of rest and exposes what we are trusting to hold us together.

Restlessness often reveals a heart that knows truth but is struggling to rest in it.

A. Asaph acknowledges God’s hand even in his sleeplessness.

“Thou holdest mine eyes waking.” (v.4)

Restlessness is addressed spiritually, not ignored.

God is spoken to, not spoken about.

Practice – Name the pain: Tell God what keeps you awake instead of medicating the moment.

This is why you scroll at night instead of sleeping. Your body is tired, but your heart does not know where to rest.

B. Familiar spiritual language does not automatically produce peace.

“I call to remembrance my song in the night.” (v.6)

Truth remembered without trust does not calm the soul.

Knowledge and rest are not the same thing.

C. Honest prayer gives unrest a place to go.

Asaph does not distract himself.

Silence becomes prayer instead of escape.

Faith stays present even when comfort delays.

What do you reach for first when the house finally gets quiet?

Transition: As unrest lingers, the heart begins to ask questions that reveal what it truly believes about God’s character.

Lament is not the absence of faith, but faith trusting God with questions it cannot yet answer.

A. Asaph asks questions that cut to the core of God’s character.

“Will the Lord cast off for ever?” (v.7)

“Is his mercy clean gone for ever?” (v.8)

These are theological questions, not emotional outbursts.

Practice – Trust God with the questions: Bring your hardest questions into God’s presence instead of hiding them.

Lament sounds like praying, “Lord, I know what I believe, but I don’t feel it right now. Help me stay.”

B. These questions assume covenant faith.

Only believers question God’s promises.

Only faith wonders if mercy has failed.

Lament stays relational.

C. Prayer keeps pain from becoming godless.

Asaph refuses silent despair.

He keeps talking to God even without answers.

Faith remains engaged.

What question about God have you decided not to ask because you are afraid of the answer?

Transition: After exhausting his questions, Asaph does not wait for his emotions to change. He chooses a discipline that reshapes the heart.

Faith grows when the heart anchors itself in what God has already done, not in what it feels right now.

A. Asaph names his weakness without excusing it.

“This is my infirmity.” (v.10)

Weakness is acknowledged, not indulged.

Honest self-awareness precedes spiritual recalibration.

B. Remembering becomes an intentional act of obedience.

“I will remember the works of the Lord.” (v.11)

“I will meditate… and talk of thy doings.” (v.12)

Memory is disciplined, not accidental.

Practice – Anchor your heart in what He’s done: Faith rehearses God’s past faithfulness when present emotions resist trust.

This is why you write things down. Your heart forgets faster than your circumstances change.

C. Truth-filled solitude protects the heart.

Solitude without Scripture leaves us alone with ourselves.

God’s Word anchors remembrance.

Truth steadies the soul when feelings drift.

What clear work of God’s faithfulness have you stopped rehearsing?

Transition: As remembrance retrains the heart, Asaph’s questions shift from confusion to worship.

Worship happens when suffering narrows our focus from unanswered questions to the greatness of God Himself.

A. The Psalm ends without resolution but not without hope.

No explanation is offered.

No circumstances are resolved.

Faith matures without closure.

B. A better question replaces the earlier ones.

“Who is so great a God as our God?” (v.13)

God’s character eclipses unanswered pain.

Worship reframes suffering without denying it.

C. Lament fulfills its purpose in re-centered worship. (Heading 2)

The goal of lament is not relief.

The goal is restored vision of God.

Faith survives because God remains supreme.

If nothing changes this week, is God still enough for you?

Guided Closing Practice

Before we leave, practice Psalm 77 once.

Name the pain: Silently tell God one thing that is heavy right now.

Trust God with the questions: Ask one honest question you have been carrying.

Anchor your heart in what He’s done: Call to mind one clear way God has been faithful.

That is lament. That is faith staying present.

Conclusion

Psalm 77 does not teach us how to fix pain. It teaches us how to stay with God inside it.

Name the pain.

Trust God with the questions.

Anchor your heart in what He’s done.

And keep talking to God, even when you do not know what to say.

He is still listening.