#221 Lament

Over the past year or so I've been trying to practice lament. Lament is a type of prayer that shows up frequently in the Bible. When we lament, we call God's attention to evil, injustice, and suffering in our lives and in the world. A lament is sort of like a complaint and sort of like a protest. Laments are filled with lots of questions that begin with "Why" and especially "How long." (e.g. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? [Psalm 22:1] How long, LORD? Will you forget me forever? [Psalm 13:1]) But lament isn't used so much to question God as to cry out for His help or move Him to take action. At first glance, we might think prayers of lament doubt God, but they actually express faith in God. God's people turn to Him with laments because we trust that He cares about the evil, injustice, and suffering in our world and that He has the power, wisdom, and goodness to set things right. Lament gives us a way to pray when other people wrong us or mistreat us or falsely accuse us. Lament gives us a way to pray for and with others who are abused or discriminated against or oppressed, especially when it seems we can do nothing about those situations. Lament gives us a way to bring to God the troubles in our world that we don't fully understand and seem helpless against: things like pandemics and terrible storms and widespread poverty and inequalities in our societies. God cares about these evils and the suffering they bring, so God's people should care about them, too.

Now lament isn't the only kind of prayer. Some wrongs in the world are clearly caused by our own sins. We hurt others; we make wrong and foolish choices. Then we need to confess our sins and wickedness to God and ask for His forgiveness. Laments in the Bible pretty much always lead to specific requests. After calling God's attention to some trouble, we ask Him to intervene—to heal, to restore, to strengthen, to guide, and so on. Laments often also go hand-in-hand with prayers of trust and praise and thanksgiving. We lament because we trust that God cares and will act. We confidently vow to praise God after He acts. And when God does act, we praise His character—who He is—and give thanks for His actions—what He has done. However, while lament isn't the only kind of prayer, I think it's a type of prayer we need, especially in the midst of broken world. Lately I've been trying to include lament in my congregation's worship services: usually alongside prayers of confession but sometimes as part of our more general prayer time (the "prayers of the people" or "congregational prayer" or "long prayer" or whatever you want to call it). I wouldn't say lament is totally natural for me yet, but I'm getting used to it. It seems to help me remember the world's troubles and remind me of the greatness of God's power and care. Lament helps me expand my prayers.

Grace and peace,

BMH