Below are a series of reflections I wrote about prayer that will be aired on a local radio station in May 2020.
May 4, 2020 - Prayers of Lament
Sometimes I struggle to pray – actually more than sometimes. I often get overwhelmed and don’t think I can go to God until first figuring things out on my own. It’s like I have been subconsciously trained to make sure my prayers are polite or sanitized before approaching God. But when I read the Psalms, there are many examples of heart-felt prayers that are far from polite. Some psalms express deep sadness and feelings of loss. Others express anger and even intense feelings of revenge. But are these just Old Testament prayers that don’t have use in our lives today?
I don’t think so.
The Psalms that express sadness, anger and pain are called the lament Psalms. Many have a similar structure. First, there is an accusation or complaint against God. Then, there is a confession of trust, a petition to God for help, and finally a vow of praise. One example is Psalm 22 – which is best known for having the words Jesus cried out on the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
What’s interesting about lament is the first step is always an honest expression of how we are feeling. It’s not polite. There is no self-censorship. The lament Psalms show us that God can handle our deepest anger, sadness, and pain. When we bring our true, unfiltered selves to God, we show we really trust Him so much so that we are willing to be vulnerable. We demonstrate that we believe that God can and must be the one to turn the difficult situations in our lives around for the better.
May 5, 2020 - Weeping and Rejoicing
Thanksgiving and celebration are important parts of our lives. But sometimes, there aren’t things to celebrate. There are times to be sad or angry whether it be difficult personal issues or larger injustices in the world around us. This is where prayers of lament come in. Lament is an opportunity to be honest with God about our feelings of fear or pain. Thus, just as our lives are filled with both joy and pain, so too should our prayers.
In Scripture, great times of celebration often come after painful or scary experiences. Exodus 15 is one example. Both Moses and Miriam sing great songs of praise to God after He helps them escape the Egyptian army as they cross the Red Sea. You might be familiar with verse 20: “Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; horse and rider he has thrown into the sea.” But ironically, just one chapter before, the Israelites were scared for their lives, complaining to God, perhaps lamenting, fearful that they would be recaptured by the Egyptians. But God does not abandon them, he hears their laments and faithfully intervenes and becomes the source of their celebration!
The Exodus story reminds us of the relationship between lament and celebration. Lament offers an opportunity to bear our emotions truthfully to God and petition for his help; celebration an opportunity to be reminded of his faithful provision. This is a communal call as we learn to support one another in both the good and bad times. Paul says it best in Romans 12:15: “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.”
May 6, 2020 - Waiting Prayer
I don’t know about you. But I have a hard time waiting – whether waiting for others to go somewhere or waiting for hard things in life to get better. Waiting for others is hard. But waiting for God sometimes feels harder.
But just like any skill we want to develop, learning how to wait takes practice. One way to practice waiting on God is to spend time in silence or listening prayer. This might look like taking one or two minutes in our day to get away from the things distracting us and be reminded of God’s presence in our lives. This practice of waiting on God is a vulnerable act that forces us to put our guards down. But so often it also comes with the satisfaction of being able to trade the anxieties we have for God’s peace.
In Scripture, we see Jesus get away from the distractions of the world to pray on his own. In Psalms 46, we also get the famous verse: “Be still and know that I am God.” In the context of the Psalm, the command to be still serves as a reminder to stop what we are doing and see what God is doing in the world and in our city - even in the midst of uncertainty. In this way, it as if God is showing us that finding peace does not come from hurriedly trying to solve stressful things on our own. Instead, we learn to come to God in stillness and recognize his presence and love for us even when our worlds might seem upside down.
May 7, 2020 - Specific Prayers
Many times, I get overwhelmed reading the news. One thing that has been helpful is a weekly prayer time at my church called the People’s Prayer. What I love about the People’s Prayer is that I learn how to engage what’s happening in Hong Kong and the world through prayer in a way that’s sometimes hard to do on my own. For example, we often pray for issues affecting refugees, migrant workers, or others struggling in Hong Kong, or for those who are experiencing the devastation of natural disasters around the world. These prayers are not just nice words we say because that’s what we are supposed to do; rather, the prayers are informed by the real needs of people and filled with specific requests for how we hope God will intervene.
But how do we learn to pray this way?
I think one simple step is being involved in serving the needs of those around us. In Matthew 25, Jesus tells his followers that whenever they give food or drink or show hospitality to those in need; they are also doing it for him. What strikes me about this story is that being a faithful follower of Christ means taking care of those who are most vulnerable. If our lives are actually intertwined with the experiences of those who are vulnerable and in need, then we will know how to pray specific prayers, asking God for specific outcomes. Maybe then, the invitation to grow in prayer is also an invitation for God to open our eyes and hearts to serve the vulnerable in our city with compassion.
May 8, 2020 - When We Don’t Have Words
When I find it hard to pray, I’ve learned to pray the words of others. After all, when the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, he taught them the Lord’s Prayer allowing them to borrow his words to guide their own. This is a prayer we still use today. There are also many other prayers from Christians past and present that can guide us when we feel stuck. One particularly helpful to me has been the famous Peace Prayer of St. Francis
It goes like this:
“Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.”
What I love about the Peace Prayer is that it redirects our feelings of self-centeredness outward to recognize the experiences of others. The prayer acknowledges our fear and anxiety, but it doesn’t stop there. It reminds us that even when we are feeling overwhelmed, God calls us to find peace in caring for those around us. This can seem like a difficult thing to do. But in praying the words of others who have done it before us, we can find courage to do the same.