THEREFORE WE PRAY

Desirae L'Heureux Clarke, Bowridge Children's Director

David wrote many of the Psalms during turbulent times. For many of his early years he was constantly on the run from his enemies and later in life he suffered much political and familial turmoil. Some would say that we are in turbulent times now, whether that be in the church or the world as a whole. I’d like to suggest that we embrace a posture of prayer during these times like David did.

In a recent report, the president of the Christian and Missionary Alliance described our posture to prayer as so; “Therefore, we pray.” This is a posture that RockPointe must internalize as well. Our first response to anything should be prayer! Ephesians 6:18 says, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” Did you catch that? “On all occasions” we are to pray. This statement “therefore, we pray” can be a powerful reminder both personally and corporately.

• My family is going through a hard time - therefore, we pray.

• The church is in need of finances - therefore, we pray.

• Your situation, whatever it may be - therefore, we pray.

Our modern culture has a tendency to push things off, to pretend like everything is fine, that nothing bothers us. I love the book of Psalms because it is the complete opposite of that narrative. The book of Psalms is filled with big emotions, both positive and negative. A common type of Psalm throughout the book is lament - active prayers to the Lord that involve deep sorrow and a call to action. The book of Psalms makes space for sorrow in a way our culture no longer does. The global church has lost something important as we’ve lost our focus on lamenting.

If our posture is ‘therefore, we pray,’ then we are bringing our deepest sorrows to the Lord. While the wounds are still fresh, we turn to the Lord and we cry out. I want to challenge you to engage in lament with your God, whether that be for personal sorrow or corporate grief.

Laments follow a common structure. They begin with a calling out to God, reminding us who we are calling upon. They then state the problem. Whatever it may be, the Psalms do not sugarcoat the problem. They are honest and raw, laying down their worries at the feet of the Lord. From there the Psalms call God to action. They petition the Lord to act on their behalf to do something to right the situation. Then, the lament ends with an affirmation of trust and a word of praise. This is key.

Lamenting is so important for us today as we present our deepest grief to the Lord and lay it down at his feet. But the lament does not end there. We present the problem to the LORD and then we say, “Lord I know you can do something about this for you are a great God.” I love the ending to Psalm 13:

"But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing the Lord’s praise, for he has been good to me."

In this Psalm David has just gone on about his enemies overtaking him, yet he can see the big picture - God has been good to him and will continue to do so. Lament gives us a space to share our deepest griefs, but it doesn’t leave us there. Instead, we end our laments with an essential reminder that God is in control and so we turn to him and praise him for the good he has done and the good we know he will do.

So as you wrestle today with struggles in your own life, the life of your family, or the life of our church I encourage you to lay it at the feet of the Lord and remind yourself who is in control.

But I trust in your unfailing love;

my heart rejoices in your salvation.

I will sing the Lord’s praise,

for he has been good to me.

Psalm 13:6