Last year, I got to lead a Small Group going through the Psalms, using what I learned from a Psalms class at Biola University 30 years ago.<\/p>\n
It touches my life when I try to use the ideas to write my own psalm-prayers.<\/p>\n
The first idea is to use parallelism:
\nFor each line, I repeat myself;
\neach thought, I express in another way.<\/p>\n
You get the idea!<\/p>\n
One of the most common forms used in the Psalms is a Lament. I’ve heard Christians list necessary components of prayer. They are usually along the lines of Adoration, Confession, Thanks, Intercession. For me, it gives new energy to try to pray in the form of a Lament.<\/p>\n
Here are the parts of a Lament. I’ll give examples from several different Psalms. Every Lament does not necessarily have every single part.<\/p>\n
1. Address to God<\/p>\n
Answer me when I call to you,
\nO my righteous God.
\nGive me relief from my distress;
\nbe merciful to me and hear my prayer.
\n— Psalm 4:1<\/p><\/blockquote>\n2. Lament or complaint.<\/p>\n
How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
\nHow long will you hide your face from me?
\nHow long must I wrestle with my thoughts
\nand every day have sorrow in my heart?
\nHow long will my enemy triumph over me?
\n— Psalm 13:1-2<\/p><\/blockquote>\n3. Review of God’s Help (Confession of Trust).<\/p>\n
But you are a shield around me, O Lord;
\nyou bestow glory on me and lift up my head.
\nTo the Lord I cry aloud,
\nand he answers me from his holy hill.
\nSelah
\nI lie down and sleep;
\nI wake again, because the Lord sustains me.
\nI will not fear the tens of thousands
\ndrawn up against me on every side.
\n— Psalm 3: 3-6<\/p><\/blockquote>\n4. Petition.<\/p>\n
Arise, O Lord!
\nDeliver me, O my God!
\nStrike all my enemies on the jaw;
\nbreak the teeth of the wicked.
\n— Psalm 3:7<\/p><\/blockquote>\n5. Words of Assurance.<\/p>\n
For surely, O Lord, you bless the righteous;
\nyou surround them with your favor as with a shield.
\n— Psalm 5:12<\/p><\/blockquote>\n6. Vow to Praise.<\/p>\n
I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness
\nand will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.
\n— Psalm 7:17<\/p><\/blockquote>\nI was looking back over my journal, and a bit more than a year ago, before I briefly dated someone, I wrote a Lament-Prayer about my longing for love. Now that Spring is in the air, that raises a chord with me again.<\/p>\n
So I offer the following Lament for Love. I know there are many out there who will echo my prayer. For those who already have a deep love in your life, let this simply be a suggestion of a form to try using in your prayers.<\/p>\n
Hear my voice, O Lord!
\nI need you more than I even realize.
\nYou know the future;
\nyour guidance is best.
\nI want to follow your leading;
\nI want your plans for me to come to pass.
\nI don’t want to be swayed by my own emotions or selfishness or lust;
\nI want to follow your way.<\/p>\nLord, I’m confused about what to do.
\nI’m so inexperienced, so na\u00c3\u00afve and vulnerable.
\nIt’s been 10 years since I had sex;
\nmy body’s longing for physical affection.
\nI’m hungry for affirmation,
\nso I will be easily swayed.
\nAnd I do feel lonely and inadequate.
\nWhy did my beloved reject me?
\nI wonder if I am adequate
\n— and he told me I was not.
\nI drenched my bed with weeping
\nand my sobs were uncountable.
\nWhen any man is kind to me,
\nit brings tears to my eyes.
\nMy heart is vulnerable
\nand easily swayed.<\/p>\nBut you, O Lord, have been with me in the wilderness.
\nYou have lavished your love on me.
\nYou have made me feel loved;
\nyou have held me in my most pained moments.<\/p>\nPlease, Lord, give me wisdom!
\nShow me the way I should go.
\nBring a man into my life who loves you truly
\nand who knows how to be affectionate toward me.
\nBring someone who will want to serve you together with me,
\nand make it clear this is from you.<\/p>\nSurely your plans for me are good, O Lord.
\nYour lovingkindness is inexhaustible.
\nNo one is as trustworthy as you.
\nYour faithfulness endures forever.<\/p>\nWhen You bring a great love into my life,
\nI will sing thanks to you.
\nI will tell the world how much you have done;
\nI will sing of your kindness.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last year, I got to lead a Small Group going through the Psalms, using what I learned from a Psalms class at Biola University 30 years ago. It touches my life when I try to use the ideas to write my own psalm-prayers. The first idea is to use parallelism: For each line, I repeat […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotional-thoughts","category-laments"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderjourneys\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderjourneys\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderjourneys\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderjourneys\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderjourneys\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1335"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderjourneys\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1335\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14229,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderjourneys\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1335\/revisions\/14229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderjourneys\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderjourneys\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderjourneys\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}