Jan 20th, 2013 Psalms-Authentic Prayer for Today, wk. 2- Lament

This week we continue to learn authentic prayer through the example of the Psalms. This message unpacks the many prayers of honest complaining to God found in the psalms.

If you want a study tool to go along with the podcast, see Lift Notes here:

Psalms: Authentic Prayer for today, week 2: Prayers of Lament

January 20th , 2013  by Kasey Crawford

Today’s Passages:  Psalm 77:4-11; 1-2:1-10; 42:1-9

Simply put, the Psalms are ____________ with God put to __________.

I am so troubled that I cannot speak…My heart mused and my spirit inquired: ⁷ “Will the Lord reject forever? Will he never show his favor again? ⁸ Has his unfailing love vanished forever? Has his promise failed for all time? ⁹ Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has he in anger withheld his compassion?” ¹⁰   Psalm 77:4-11

Do you feel comfortable complaining to God?

The psalmists were very comfortable with this. For example,

Psalm 102 has a heading written by the author:

A Prayer of one afflicted, when he is faint and pours out his __________________ before the Lord.

There are so many prayers like this in the book of psalms that scholars have given them a name: Psalms of lament, also meaning __________, and comes from a Hebrew word that means “beating the breast”, as a sign of ______________.

The most important thing to see is that God can _____________ it.

Far from being hidden away from public view, these cries of doubt and frustration were read in front of whole assemblies and thus show that Israel thought being _____________ with God about one’s faith struggles was part of an ___________________relationship with God.

Wrestling with God is common to humanity.   You can be bitter, frustrated, doubting, angry and turn away from God or you can have all of those normal emotions and know that God wants you to _________ ___ _______ so that you can actually go deeper with God through the process.

In short, If you want a ________ faith, you have to get _______ with God.

Once you are totally real with God then you are ready to ___________.

What happens often through the honest lamenting is that God reveals that much of our perceptions of God were __________ __________.  Our _______________ is often what needs to change!

He wants us to bring him our frustrations, our questions, our wrestling, he already knows how we __________ anyways!  He wants us to bring those things before him and humble ourselves to let him teach us and reveal his truth.

We don’t want to stay in a place of lament, (its not fun) it ultimately would not honor God if we stayed there forever, but it’s the __________ to authentic faith out of which grows the good fruit of hope, joy, peace, etc.

 

Praying this week…

v Are there thoughts and emotions in your life that you feel you can’t share with God or have to hide from God?

v Taking encouragement from these Psalms of lament above can you turn those struggles into an honest prayer to God?

v What would it do to your life with God if you really believed that he could handle every range of emotion you felt towards Him?

v This week practice turning the full spectrum of your thoughts and emotions up to God in prayer and be humbly ready to learn that your perspective might need to change.

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