Getting Honest With God: Learn the 4 Practices of LamentSample

Day # 4: Earnest Petition

Lament invites you to explain your pain and express your protests. It also positions you to make earnest petitions to God.

This aspect of lament seems to come most naturally to believers. Thankfully, we know that we can go to God and ask him for help in times of need. And the Psalms broaden our understanding of how we can petition the Lord. Sometimes lamenters call on God with boldness. They confidently cry out to the Lord, expecting him to show up. Other petitions come from a place of weariness, desperately asking God to listen or come close. These trembling requests are a last resort. Still others make requests before their conflict with God has been resolved. They are wrestling with God, yet they still ask for his help. These different approaches demonstrate that what we ask God for, and how we ask him, can vary between people and situations. But what they all share is the fact that God cares when his people hurt and is listening when we ask him for help.

Read David’s prayer in Psalm 61, taking note of the number and variety of his requests.

Reflection Questions

How does it impact you to know that you can ask God for help?

What requests do you have, for yourself or others, in the face of current suffering?