I KNOW YOU’RE LISTENING (A DOUBTER’S PRAYER)
Another essential part of Lent is the practice of lament — we bring our sorrow, grief, doubt, and pain before God.
Lament requires honesty and vulnerability. And although it can feel like the opposite, expressing these things with total honesty before God is an act of faith — faith that God is listening and that God cares about our struggles.
Throughout the Bible, particularly in the psalms, and even in Jesus’s life we see lament is a common part of the human condition. It’s one way for God to shine light on the dark places of our lives and to prepare our wounds for healing.
Take a moment to reflect on the following questions and try to identify what resonates with you the most in the season you currently find yourself.
What things in the world or in the community break your heart right now?
How might you be experiencing a sense of brokenness in your own life?
How do these things make you feel? (Angry? Sad? Hopeless?) and how do you deal with these feelings?
Do you feel comfortable sharing these feelings (with total honesty and vulnerability) with God? What about with a close friend or fellow wanderer?
It’s important for us to reflect on these things, even if it makes us uncomfortable. To take an honest look at where we are and ask ourselves where we find God in all of it? How is the spirit showing up in our day to day routines? Where do we see Jesus in our interactions with the people who move in and out of our lives on a daily basis? Do we sense the spirit moving in and around us? Do we recognize Jesus in the faces we see, even the one in the mirror?
