A Note from Hixon Frank
We are talking through 7 types of prayers we see in scripture and how we can embrace them in our own lives. Last week was ADORATION. Remember that adoration is praising God for who He is. God is the Lord of all and deserves our praise because of that alone.
Today we look at the 2nd aspect of prayer.
After Jesus was crucified, his disciples, and those who loved Him, were heartbroken and confused. They scattered and hid for fear and uncertainty. Though scripture doesn’t share much in detail, we can make an educated guess that they were having a surge of emotions. From the deepest guilt one can possibly feel, to doubting the living reality that had meant so much to them, that is, the power of God, to just being sad because they had lost their closest friend.
I love how Jim Boucher puts it when describing the Disciples’ State of Being right after the Crucifixion….
“The disciples were angry with themselves. Peter promised Jesus that he would go to death for him and with him (Matthew 26:33). They were the disciples of Jesus. That means that they were supposed to imitate everything that He did. When he had courage, they had courage. If he is willing to die for his claims, they need to die for them as well. That is what Peter promised he would do. But he did not fulfill that promise. Faced with fear and the threat of death, Peter denied even knowing him.”
Just imagine your wife, husband, or someone that you care about is arrested and about to be tried. The state declares that anyone who knows your wife will, too, be arrested. Somebody points to you and says, “Look! That’s him! That’s her husband!” You deny it. You say that you do not even know the woman that you have loved for so many years. She hears you say it, and you make eye contact with her. Then they throw a bag over her head and bring her to the electric chair. You get away. How would you feel?
That is how Peter felt. That is how the disciples felt. They denied even knowing him.”
Men have a tendency to get angry at their own failures, but eventually the anger gives way to sadness, and sadness to regret, and regret to what the Bible calls LAMENTING. It is an utter sense of grief. The disciples faced that from Friday to Sunday morning.
Sometimes in our lives, the only thing left to us is to lament. To offer prayers to God through a broken heart. Sometimes that broken heart comes from others and sometimes from our own hands. It is part of the human condition.
The poetic but tragic words in the book of Lamentations (1:1-2) were written almost 2600 years ago by the prophet Jeremiah. As he surveyed the Holy City of Jerusalem, he saw nothing but pain, suffering, and destruction. Jerusalem had fallen after a 30-month siege, following which the Babylonians systematically destroyed the city and Solomon’s Temple. And thus began 70 years of captivity for the Jewish people.
Sadly, this kind of story has repeated itself 100’s of times over the course of history. Whether from war, famine, disease, pandemic, drought, political unrest, or economic collapse … hardships and suffering are part of life.
On a smaller, more personal scale, job loss, relationship struggles, or wayward children can cause even faithful Christians to wrestle with doubts, difficulty, and even depression.
Jeremiah records the following prayer in response to what he had seen in Jerusalem…
Lamentations 5:1-5 1 Lord, remember what has happened to us. Look, and see our disgrace! 2 Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our houses to foreigners. 3 We have become orphans, fatherless; our mothers are widows. 4 We must pay for the water we drink; our wood comes at a price. 5 We are closely pursued; we are tired, and no one offers us rest. But… Jeremiah does something that creates the backdrop for a lamenting prayer…. He reminds us of God’s love, mercy, and faithfulness in the midst of the desolation. Even in this seemingly hopeless situation, he somehow found hope in the Lord.
Lamentations 3:21-24
21 21 Yet I call this to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
22 Because of the Lord’s faithful love
we do not perish,
for his mercies never end.
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness!
24 I say, “The Lord is my portion,
therefore I will put my hope in him.”
Two and a half centuries later, we are told to do the same thing…
- We are told to Humble ourselves and to cast our cares upon Him. (I Peter 5:6-7)
- We are directed to “grieve as those who have hope.” (1 Thes. 4:13)
- We are encouraged to have faith. (Hebrews 11)
- We are exhorted to trust the Lord. (Prov 3)
As you pray this week in private, bring to God the things that cause you darkness, pain, frustration, or depression … then give those things to the Lord. Asking for relief but also expressing faith in His grace, mercy, and Love.
Broken relationship? – lament and HOPE!
Sin habits? – lament and HOPE?
Humble circumstances? – lament and HOPE!
Health Crisis? – lament and HOPE!
Lost loved one? – lament and HOPE!
You have been prayed for,
Hixon