Be With Me: Experiencing Jesus in Prayer
An Intentional Journey to Deepen Your Relationship with the Divine
Week 4: Be With Me - Everyday Pits
Preparation:
Song: “Tears” Indigenous worship by Jonathan Maracle / Broken Walls
Written and played "live" by Jonathan on the Mohawk Wind Flute at the Broken Walls "Drums of Thunder" concert in Shreveport, Louisiana. This song first released on the Ohwihsha album "Healing Winds,"is dedicated to all Mothers and Grandmothers whose endless, undying love and tears have been poured out for their children and to honor the ancestors who walked and died on "The Trails of Tears" wherever they took place around the world.
Scripture: Choose any Psalm of Lament (e.g. Psalm 12, 44, 60, 74, 79, 80, 83, 85, 90, 94, 123, 126, 129)
Personal Practice:
Lament is joining your heart in godly sorrow for the things that break God’s heart. Write your own Lament. Choose a current event from the news that is painful to read/watch, or a personal situation that clearly exhibits the presence of sickness, overwhelming strife, injustice, evil, or oppression in the world. Sit with the feelings that stir up in you, perhaps sit longer than you want to. Craft a poignant prayer that expresses your complaint to God and cry for help. Use this simple structure1 that you will find mirrored in typical lament Psalms.
- The Opening Address: What role does God play in this situation? What title is appropriate as an appeal to God’s character?
- The Complaint: Authentically communicate the source of your sorrow, grief and anger.
- The Confession of Trust: Express your desire to trust; remember how God has been faithful in the past.
- The Petition for Help: How do you want God to act, where do you want to see change?!
- The Vow of Praise: Raise your eyes above the current circumstances and acknowledge God who is worthy of praise.
Group Prayer:
Before praying find a candle and matches. If possible, sit in the darkness and light a candle. Begin with 2 full minutes of silence, centering yourself on the presence of Christ. Then, have someone slowly read off current world news headlines that are difficult. After each headline have the group respond “Lord Have Mercy.” End with listening to the song above “Tears” while each intercedes for peoples and situations silently.
Download this rescource here: BWM Week 4.pdf
1Adapted from Bolsinger’s “Exercise: Writing your own Psalm of Lament” Fuller Theological Seminary
Created by Beth Paz. The selections of multicultural worship are an invitation to remember the global nature of God in our prayers.
Photos courtesy of UNsplash.com. Spiritual Disciplines courtesy of “Spiritual Disciplines Handbook” by Adele Ahlberg Calhoun, IVPress.
Posted by
