Prayer for Lament

Prayer for Lament

Holy God, of mystery and depth; of hope in sorrow and life from death, hear my prayer.

My body is weary, my heart is heavy. My mind, tormented, runs rampant with worry and wild with fear. Like a wandering soul; heavy-laden with sand and tears of desert wilderness, my heart longs for you. It cries for your comfort, it aches for your healing touch. In deepest pain, angst, and agony beyond belief, I look to the heavens and ask “how long?” “How long will you stand by and watch as my life continues to fall apart, like a tapestry once held together; every thread in its place? How long will you let me fray and unravel until there is nothing left?”

Compassionate savior, merciful God; you who weep with those who weep, shouldering sorrowful burdens with loving hands pierced with nails and stained with blood, hear my prayer. As tears fall freely, and hands clench into fists raised heavenward; as questions, doubts, sorrows, fears spill out and over and all around, you are there.

Like an oak: immovable, sturdy, and strong; your presence surrounds and comforts, not calling for an end to tears but rather, inviting itself into this teary mess of deep sorrow to share the burden of agony, the pain of suffering, the sacred practice of lament. Though this sorrow may last for many nights, my soul will rest in the arms that lift me up; help in the hands that cradle my every tear.

Amen.

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Submitted by:
Sara Robb-Scott, Pastor for Senior Adults and Pastoral Care, First Baptist Decatur