We encourage you to continue praying for these points as often as the Lord moves you!
This week, our prayer prompt is about praying Lament and is connected with the burial of Jesus from Sunday’s sermon. Those at the tomb and the disciples likely would have prayed Lament prayers or psalms amidst the tragedy. Laments are poignant cries of distress, grief, frustration, or anger from immediate crises directed up to God. They show us how God permits and directs us and even models for us how to respond. They provide a structure to move a worshipper through hurt and joy, darkness and light, and even within desperation and hope.
We use specific terms, language, and expressions to respond to suffering and evil in our lives. Some are healthy, and some are not; however, they can be informed from a healthy source. Yet, many Christians believe it is somehow wrong to have these feelings or to ever express them out loud.
Christopher Wright says, “When we grieve, weep, lament, protest, scream in pain & anger…When we do such things, The Bible says to us, That’s Ok, go right ahead. And here are some words that you may like to use when you feel that way.”
At its heart, a lament is an expression of trust in God's character, power, and previous action—an expression of trust that looks beyond our current circumstances to what will be and what is—the reality behind the reality. It speaks from the confidence that the situation(s) can be changed if God wills to intervene. And a vow to praise him come what may. It is an appeal to God’s compassion and a faith that is so robust that it wrestles with God. And he invites it.
This week, allow yourself to speak to God honestly about your thoughts and feelings on whatever you are encountering this year personally, communally, locally, nationally, or globally. There are several Lament psalms you can read that show expressions both individually or communally. May they be a guide for us.
Psalm 13, 22, 28, 31, 39, 44, 55-57, 61, 90, 94
This week, our prayer prompt is about praying Lament and is connected with the burial of Jesus from Sunday’s sermon. Those at the tomb and the disciples likely would have prayed Lament prayers or psalms amidst the tragedy. Laments are poignant cries of distress, grief, frustration, or anger from immediate crises directed up to God. They show us how God permits and directs us and even models for us how to respond. They provide a structure to move a worshipper through hurt and joy, darkness and light, and even within desperation and hope.
We use specific terms, language, and expressions to respond to suffering and evil in our lives. Some are healthy, and some are not; however, they can be informed from a healthy source. Yet, many Christians believe it is somehow wrong to have these feelings or to ever express them out loud.
Christopher Wright says, “When we grieve, weep, lament, protest, scream in pain & anger…When we do such things, The Bible says to us, That’s Ok, go right ahead. And here are some words that you may like to use when you feel that way.”
At its heart, a lament is an expression of trust in God's character, power, and previous action—an expression of trust that looks beyond our current circumstances to what will be and what is—the reality behind the reality. It speaks from the confidence that the situation(s) can be changed if God wills to intervene. And a vow to praise him come what may. It is an appeal to God’s compassion and a faith that is so robust that it wrestles with God. And he invites it.
This week, allow yourself to speak to God honestly about your thoughts and feelings on whatever you are encountering this year personally, communally, locally, nationally, or globally. There are several Lament psalms you can read that show expressions both individually or communally. May they be a guide for us.
Psalm 13, 22, 28, 31, 39, 44, 55-57, 61, 90, 94