Books
Teaching
Why Do We Lament?
Jonathan Martin | The Practice
Our Christian faith is often expressed with joyful songs and messages of hopeful thanksgiving, which are both beautiful and necessary. But where can we turn when we inevitably face anger, despair, sadness, injustice, hurt, and all the hardships of this life? Do we have to avoid these emotions – or even worse – bottle them up and hope they don’t explode at others or God? Thankfully, all throughout the pages of Scripture, we find a way to express our pain to God: lament. Prayers of lament give voice to pain while also naming trust in God’s goodness and presence. This is the first teaching in a series on Lament by The Practice at Willow Creek Community Church.
What is Biblical Lament?
Curtis Miller | The Practice
Have you ever struggled with the question, “Why does pain exist? Curtis said that “the goodness of God is demonstrated not in the prevention of pain but in the redemption of pain.” Although trust is an important element of lament, sometimes we are in so much pain that we cannot remember God’s goodness. This is the second teaching in a series on Lament by The Practice at Willow Creek Community Church. Following the teaching Kellye Fabian leads in a practice of Personal and Global Lament with images. Download the resource here.
How Can I Lament?
Jenna Perrine | The Practice
Follow along as Jenna walks us through a process of writing our own lament, using these nine steps modeled after the Psalms:
Cry out to God (your address to God);
Complaint (your anger, pain, heartache, or sadness);
Affirmation of Trust (your remembrance of God’s presence in your past);
Petition/Request (your deepest desire);
Additional Argument (anything more, why God should intervene);
Rage against Your Enemies (bringing your enemies before God);
Assurance of Being Heard (what you need to feel heard);
Promise to Offer Praise to God (the promise you can offer to God); and
Assurance (the attribute of God you are thankful for in the moment).
You can listen to Jenna’s message and partake in the practice of writing your own lament here below or by listening to the Practice Podcast. We encourage you to follow along with Jenna’s handout as you listen and write, which you can download here.
Unanswered Prayer & Lament Psalms
John Mark Comer | Bridgetown Church
Unanswered prayer is the source of doubt and despair for millions of people. And for good reason – it’s confusing. Why is it that sometimes we pray and immediately our prayer is answered! But other times we pray and… nothing happens. Or why is it that sometimes we pray, and then we pray again, and then we pray again, and finally, after months, the answer to our prayer comes out of heaven? Why the delay?
How do we live in the waiting? And in the tension between Jesus’ promise that “If you ask anything in my name, I will do it,” and the reality of our experience with unanswered prayer? Really, the question is: How do we live in the liminal space of faith and doubt, hope and despair, expectation and frustration?
One answer, is an ancient form of prayer called lament. In the middle of the Bible is a prayerbook called The Psalms. It’s there to teach you and me how to pray. And over two-thirds of the psalms are prayers of lament - venting anger and rage and disillusionment and confusion and questions and frustrated longing to God, in a posture not of whining, but of worship.
As a general rule, Americans know very little about lament. So this week, our goal is to learn, at least a little, about this ancient form of prayer.
The Sage: Job: The Curtain Behind The Universe
John Mark Comer | Bridgetown Church
In a fascinating walk through the book of Job, we see that the starting place for a conversation around the problem of evil is this: there are no easy answers. But there is a place for lament. And the invitation is to trust God no matter what kind of evil we face.
Audio
Lamentations
Bilfrost Arts Music
Isaac Wardell and Bifrost Arts have released a stunning album called “Lamentations”. These 14 laments are achingly beautiful, haunting, and deeply hope-filled.
Videos
On Lamentation in Worship
Bilfrost Arts Music
One of the things that many churches need to reclaim is the biblical practice of lamentation in worship. We know that so many things in our world are not as they should be. We know that people are walking into our churches bruised and broken by so many effects of the fall. But do we reflect this in our songs, in our prayers, in our worship practices? The Psalmist cries out, “How Long, O Lord? Deliver us, Lord. Arise, O Lord, save us!” In the Psalms God gives us this picture of what it looks like to bring our whole hearts before him. For those of us plagued by grief or doubt, the Psalms give us words to relate to. For others of us the Psalms give us words to grow into. Jesus himself used the Psalms to learn how to worship. Jesus was someone who understood Lamentation.
Printed Resources
How to Write Your Own Lament
Jenna Perrine | The Practice
This was a resource that was created to use in conjunction with Jenna’s teaching “How Can I Lament?”.
You can listen to Jenna’s message and partake in the practice of writing your own lament here or by listening to the Practice Podcast.
Lament table liturgy
John and Jenna Perrine | The Practice
Imagine what God could unlock in each of us as we: (1) create holy space by praying the table liturgy (which you can download and print at home) that was created specifically for this purpose; (2) share our laments with each other; and (3) pray for each other as we embark on this new practice.