By Patrick Porter
Optional Kids Practice
Invite kids in your group to be with the adults for a few minutes. Once they seem ready to engage, ask them the following prompt.
- Is there anything that has made you sad or upset this week? How do you think Jesus feels about that thing that made you sad or upset?
Remind the kids that when something makes them sad, it’s good to talk to their parents about it. It’s also good to talk to Jesus about it. Ask them to pray and talk to Jesus about anything that makes them sad or upset this week. Tell them you’ll check in with them next week about what it was like.
Begin with prayer
Gather together as a Community in a comfortable setting. Take a moment in silence, in the presence of Jesus and each other. Have one person pray to ask the Holy Spirit to lead and guide your time together.
Debrief the most recent teaching
- What did you take away from the teaching, and what has God been doing in your life this past week because of it?
- How did the practice of confession go?
Read this overview
As Christians, lament is the language we use to communicate our feelings of grief, pain, or sadness to God. A lament is neither a complaint nor a prayer asking for solutions. To lament is to cry out to God. To say to him that something is wrong and it hurts. When a baby cries out because they are hungry, they do this because they anticipate that their parents will react and take care of their needs. When we lament, we expect God to know our needs and respond. In Lament, we experience the love of God in the act itself. We cry out to our Father, who really hears us, really cares about what we feel, and will respond because he loves us.
If you want to learn more about lament or still have questions, here is a great article to consult.
Discuss the following prompts
- How often do you practice lament by yourself during times of prayer?
- Take a moment to think about how you imagine God reacting to you when you’re feeling despairing, furious, or numb. How do you assume he responds to you?
- If you’ve practiced lament before, what did you find helpful or meaningful about it? What do you imagine could be impactful if you haven’t practiced it before?
Practicing right now
If your Community has the time, pick two or three things people in the Community are struggling with that they are willing to share. Spend time in prayers of lament, not looking to ask for fixes or solutions. Reading Psalm 13 out loud to begin your time of lament could be helpful. Allow the flow of Psalm 13 to guide your prayer of lament.
Practicing this week
This week, you’ll be spending time practicing lament.
Set aside time twice this week to practice lamenting. Lamenting personal struggles or feelings, those of other people you know, or events or situations happening around the world are all good options.
Be prepared to share with your Community next week what the experience was like.
Close in prayer
End by having someone read this prayer from Ephesians 3v14-21:
For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.