«Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he slammed the door on his compassion?» (Psalm 77:9, NLT).
We rarely talk about certain parts of the Bible. There are verses we do not print on bookmarks, or stamp on T-shirts, because they seem impolite. However, they are part of the biblical canon! Although they make us uncomfortable, laments are prayers that are needed to keep our faith alive and honest.
In his book A Praying Life, Paul Miller explains the importance of lamenting: «We think laments are disrespectful; God says the opposite. Lamenting shows you are engaged with God in a vibrant, living faith. We live in a deeply broken world. If the pieces of our world aren’t breaking your heart and you aren’t in God’s face about them, then . . . you’ve thrown in the towel.»
The Bible has many laments. The Psalms are full of these «impolite» prayers and there are countless examples of them even among the prophets. Nobody considered that prophet Jeremiah or prophet Habakkuk were any less spiritual because of their prayers of lament. In fact, while hanging on the cross, Jesus also prayed with heartrending honesty: «My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?» (Matthew 27:46, NLT).
I do not know how we come to think we will honor God by hiding our true feelings and only using «pretty» words in our prayers. When life hits us with injustice and tragedy, we feel a sort of pressure to defend God’s reputation and bury our doubts. Our heart wants to yell, «God, where are you?», but since we were taught that to say that would be a sin, we lose our voice and our faith.
«If you don’t lament over the broken things in your world, then your heart shuts down,» writes Miller. «Your vital relationship with God slowly dies. . . Silently, you become cynical. Cynicism leads you away from God; lament pushes you into God’s presence. Therefore, strange as it may seem, not lamenting leads to unbelief.» Faith uses laments to grow. «Impolite» prayers keep our communication channel open and our relationship with God alive and authentic.
Lord, I want my prayers to be emotionally authentic. Teach me to lament like David in Psalm 13. He opened his heart and asked,
«O Lord, how long will you forget me? Forever?» His courage
and honesty allowed him to process his emotions and end the same Psalm by saying, «I will sing to the Lord because He is good to me.» Sometimes I want to say these last words and skip the first ones.
I need vulnerability to have a more honest relationship with You.
Thank You for being interested in all my emotions, and not just the «pretty» ones. Amen.
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Take From: Devotional Thoughts for Women 2022
«NO FEARS»
BY: VANEZA PISSUTO
Collaborators: Alexandra Pérez & Angelica Cuate.
