Sometimes our prayers seem anemic in the face of the world’s pain. What words are adequate in the face of evil atrocities? This week I spoke with three different friends who expressed deep angst, and one even broke down in tears, discussing the painful situation in the Middle East. Not only the loss of life but the confusion about how to speak of it honestly and respectfully.
Sometimes we need a guide for conversing with God. The ancient book of Psalms articulates the grief of the human condition:
For my days pass away like smoke, and my bones burn like a furnace. My heart is stricken and withered like grass; I am too wasted to eat my bread. Because of my loud groaning my bones cling to my skin. (Psalm 102)
The Psalms are not so much God’s words to us as they are the spiritual community’s prayers to God, uttered in times of enormous heartache and times of unbelievable joy and celebration. They remind us that there are no words we can say to God that God cannot handle. Shake a fist at God and you join our ancestors in faith who endured devastation and despair on a personal and communal level. Or sing a song to God when you are overwhelmed by the beauty and grace of this human journey.
He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. (Psalm 23)
The Psalms are a template for honest prayer expressing our passions, emotions and feelings. I like what Anne Lamott says about prayer. Sometimes prayer is the way we put God on the hook and trust that God will come in like a labor nurse to empower us to bear life. (Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers)
The Psalms are not stories, but they encompass our human stories – of yesterday and today. We will talk more about how they enrich our lives in the coming weeks during the November Sermon Series “Help, Thanks, Wow!”. But in the meantime, pick up a Bible, and read a Psalm, and see if it names something deep in your own heart.
In her recent book on prayer, Sarah Bessey prays:
God of herons and heartbreak, teach us to love the world again. Teach us to love extravagantly knowing it may (it will) break our hearts and teach us that it is worth it.
