“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” Psalm 34:18
“You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle.
Are they not in your book?”
Psalm 56:8
The Old Testament’s Psalms contains numerous laments of David. Lament prayer poured out of David’s heart at various seasons of loss and need. The Hebrew language uses different words throughout scripture to express the intense emotion of the lament: to cry aloud, wail, and mourn. Lamenting can also be a moan, a dirge, or even recount or rehearse. This powerful form of prayer brings our cries before the One who is living and hears.
Jesus demonstrated His lament in the Garden of Gethsemane before His coming crucifixion. He prayed earnestly, expressing His great sorrow and distress. He poured out His heart to His Father late into the night. (See Matthew 26, Mark 14 and Luke 22). Out of His time of lament, Jesus received the strength He needed for the coming hours.
Such prayers may need to be expressed often in God’s listening ears, with time and over various seasons. We can approach Jesus, recounting such raw responses because He understands our human frailty. As we do so, we learn He is One of mercy and grace. He counts our tossings and collects our tears. He pays attention to our pain. Through prayers of honest expression and vulnerability, we open ourselves up to knowing Him as our God of comfort and kindness.
Several years ago, I discovered the best way to pour out my heart was to walk in our woods out back and “talk it out” with God – my thoughts, emotions, questions all came out. The Lord graciously brought verses to mind during those expressive walks to offer comfort, lead me to truth, or redirect my heart.
For a more significant part of this season, the “out loud” prayers effectively formulated my thoughts before the Lord than my prayer journal. Yet, sometimes putting my prayers on paper, as David did in his Psalms, was necessary. I learned some guidelines from one who walked beside me during my journey.
- When committing your prayers to paper, pray for the Lord’s guidance and cover over your writing.
- Write your lament to the Lord.
- Express what is in your mind and heart in uncensored expression.
- End your lament with words of praise for who God is. Use promises like the verses above to speak to God, His character, and his person.
Your Lament
- Here is a precious image of a girl curled up on Jesus’s lap1. What thoughts and prayers come to mind as you reflect on this picture? What laments can you bring Jesus while safely held in His arms? What might need to be spoken aloud, and what requires the written word?
On a side note, I coloured this picture years ago. When my son was young, he curiously asked me one day what I thought yellow meant. He confidently replied in my hesitation that “yellow means grace.” So, yellow it is. She is clothed in His grace. WE are clothed in His grace.
2. Use Psalm 13 and 142 to speak your heart before the Lord if you find the words hard to come by. Allow Him to minister His love to you through these scriptures.
Footnote
- Thank you to Louise Waller, the artist, who permitted me to share this sketch called “Morning.” This image, and similar ones, can be found here: Weezieworks.com