A Prayer of Lament

By Pastor Eric Everhart

The CRCNA is gathering online Wednesday, March 9 at 11:00am to pray for Synod, denominational issues, local and global ministries, and the world. If you can’t join online, consider praying my prayer from last Sunday:

“Father God, as we come before your mighty throne today, as we come to worship you, we have to be fully honest and not just bring to you well-polished and prepared prayer, but to share with you our thoughts and to lift up to you our very hearts. If we are completely honest, Lord, many of us come before you with many different feelings, different emotions, approaching you today in many different ways. For many, our hearts are heavy, we hurt deeply in our souls, and the darkness and pain of this world has taken away the very desire to experience joy and peace! For some today, just getting out of bed took way too much thought and so much energy! So Lord, how do your broken children come before your holiness on this day, everyday? We need your Spirit, your strength, and your grace on this day, El Shaddai.

Our community and church family have experienced much loss over the  past couple years. For some today, the thoughts of loved ones taken home sits heavy. Whether just recent or a few years past, their very souls cry out with pain and grief. Holding on to the memories of those we love so dearly, finding ourselves alone at the dinner table, laying awake at night by oneself, and struggling with moving on with life and at the same time never forgetting! The pain is real, it hurts deeply, Lord, and we can find ourselves consumed with the hole in our hearts, filled only by the tears we shed when nobody’s looking. We need your love and comfort, Father, in these times of sorrow and deep pain…surround us with your loving arms; we need to hear the whisper of your voice in our ear and we need to feel the embrace of your strong presence. Give us hope to cling to and remind us of the tears you shed with us–for you know all too well the sting of loss. Let us find our hope and peace in your promise of the resurrection!!  Give us your comfort, Abba, Father.

For some on this day, our lives are filled with anxiousness, sadness, depression, and worry. Many are dealing with the weight of marriage issues, addictions, broken relationships, financial strife, and so many other things. Even as we look at the condition of this world, these dark places of our minds and hearts seem to be a normal human reaction to the abnormal circumstances of our current time. We grieve the war taking place in the Ukraine at this very moment. The images of war, bloodshed, the loss of innocent life, the uncertainty of the future for the world, they fill our thoughts and our hearts. Heavenly Father, you know the name of every man, woman and child in Ukraine. They matter to you and we pray for your protection over the people of this nation who are now caught up in war. For those fleeing their homes, please provide places of safety and refuge. Mighty God, ruler over all the earth, we thank you that you still reign and are seated on your throne. We trust in you and lean on your sovereignty, even when it seems like chaos and violence are winning. You are the God of reconciliation, who can direct leaders’ hearts like rivers; please bring an end to this conflict. May your divine peace reign in this troubled part of the world. ‘Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever;  wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others.He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.’

We are consumed daily with injustice, racism, violence against one another, inequality, COVID, threats of war, displaced people from all corners of the world, greed, and the list goes on!! How much more can we handle, Lord…. Where are you? We weep over the division of people, the half truths, the mistrust, the lies, our individual selfishness, pride, greed, violence, and the hate in our hearts that has taken root in our homes, our country, our churches, and our world. Help us to grasp and hold onto your hope, help us to trust in you, to lean on your wisdom and to keep our eyes focused on Jesus and not on the storms. Help us to be ambassadors of your grace and instruments of unity and love. Have mercy on your children, Jehovah Shalom.

For some today, our thoughts of worship and reverence are replaced with continuing thoughts of physical pain, aching joints, pending surgeries, cancer, aging, failing physical bodies, treatments, disease, and sickness. We close our eyes at night looking for a reprieve from the cruel reality of this world–hoping for a better day tomorrow. Pour out your comfort, peace, and healing power…sustain us in our weakness and replace our pain with rest. Let us look upon your face and be overwhelmed with the wholeness of your glory.  Do you hear our cries, God? Please don’t turn a deaf ear, Jehovah Rapha.    

For many of us, our own brokenness, shame, and sin separate us from genuinely worshiping you. Our pride, our lust–we are called to be faithful to one another but so often our selfish needs outweigh the need for loyalty and commitment in marriages, relationships, to your church, and to you, Lord. We are called to bring peace but find ourselves in senseless quarrels, divided by differences, separated by trivial things, and we live in disunity. The concern for others is replaced by a need for ourselves. We are impatient–quick to speak and slow to listen, we are quick to judge and be angry, we point blame and choose not to forgive, we choose to be right when we are called to be humble, and our hearts are hardened. We selfishly choose to follow the world instead of you…. In your grace and in your blood, Lord, forgive us. We fall at your feet for your redeeming grace and cry out for your love to abound in all things. Forgive us, Lord, for we have sinned against you and against our fellow brothers and sisters. Forgive us, Lord, and pour out your spirit to guide us, convict us, and walk in obedience to you…not merely because we have to, but because of our love for you!  

Yes, Lord,  we come to you tired and weak, heavy-laden and fed up with all this world is throwing at us right now…the burden is almost too much to bear! We cannot do this on our own and we are incapable of sustaining at this pace without your grace and strength…hear us, Lord. “Look to us and answer, Lord my God. Give light to our eyes.” Great God of power, who is sovereign over all that is, was and will be….provide all that we need, Jehovah Jireh. 

In the valleys of our weariness, we KNOW that you are King! You are the Alpha and Omega…the Great I Am, and we gather this morning, standing on the promises of your provisions and for your will for our lives–that you will always be with us, you will never forsake us, and that you will stand for us. We trust in you, Emmanuel, that you are in control and nothing is outside of your grasp; we seek you, Lord, for our strength, our endurance, for your grace, and your peace. Replace our fear with hope, fill the wells of our pain with your joy, erase the anger in our hearts with your love, and where there is unrest, Lord, give us your never-ending peace. Let us rest in the wings of your grace and be restored through the work of your Holy Spirit. Renew our minds and our hearts, Lord, let us fix our eyes on you, and may we see and understand the promises of your word. What this world will throw at us you have conquered, help us stand in that truth.      

Today, Lord, in your grace, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we choose to love one another, to be compassionate, to have hope, to be forgiving, to bring and live in peace, to trust in you, to see one another as you see us, to care for one another, bear in all things with one another, be humble, seek justice, and rely on your strength instead of our own. Today we chose to love you with all our hearts, all or our minds, and with all of our strength, to be ambassadors of your great love to a world who so desperately needs it. 

Father, your children long to feel your touch, to walk in the garden with you, hand in hand. We seek to lay our eyes on the crystal seas, and to feel your breath on our faces…heal our land, Lord, draw us close to you and let us touch the hem of your robe. 

We live for you and worship you this day and every day, saying, ‘Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!’ ‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!’ 

Receive our humble worship on this day, Lord, as we reflect our reverence and love for you! And as we take your grace, which is grafted in our very souls, outside of this building and into the world, may our lives reflect your love and mercy to all we may encounter!

It is through you Jesus, by you, and because of you, we are able to pray these things. We love you, Lord. Thank you for Jesus, thank you for Jesus. Amen!”

 

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