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May 19, 2024

The Prayer of Lament is a Calling

The Prayer of Lament is a Calling

Passage: Romans 8:22-27

Speaker: Patrick Lafferty

Series: Practice the Presence - Prayer

Keywords: prayer, redemption, spirit, groaning, weakness

We’ve tried to explain a sadly too prominent kind of necessary prayer: the prayer of lament. It is our desperate act of appealing to a good God amid what often feels anything but good. We’ve said it is at bottom a longing, and also a journey. But we find in this passage that the prayer of lament is a calling–something which this world naturally occasions but which is now, because of the gospel, a difficult but powerful privilege. We are met in our weakness and then sent to meet others in theirs with the same Help we receive in our struggle–and to pray.

Scriptures & Readings

PREPARATION: Psalm 5:1-3, 7

LEADER: Give ear to my words, O LORD;
consider my groaning.
Give attention to the sound of my cry,
my King and my God,
for to you do I pray.

ALL: O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice;
in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.

LEADER: But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,
will enter your house.

ALL: I will bow down toward your holy temple
in the fear of you.

AFFIRMATION OF FAITH/CREEDAL STATEMENT/SCRIPTURE READING: 2 Corinthians 5:1-9

LEADER: For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.

CENTRAL TEXT: Romans 8:22-27

Rom. 8:22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Rom. 8:26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

BENEDICTION: Numbers 6:24-26
LEADER: The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

  1. Last time something happened and you audibly groaned in pain or grief? 
  2. Paul characterizes all creation as “subjected to futility,” and by God Himself. What might he mean by futility there? What are examples of that futility as you look at the world?
  3. What metaphor does Paul use to describe the groaning? What kind of pain is the groaning? How does that nuance its meaning?
  4. What is the nature of the groaning he associates with the church? How does the same metaphor he applies to the creation apply to the church–and how does the Gospel affect our groaning? Where do you see that groaning on display, so to speak?
  5. How does Paul say the Spirit assists us? Why might Paul mention that assistance as a form of encouragement?
  6. Who in your orbit could benefit from the Spirit groaning with them as you pray for them in their groans? Or could have that praying offered by way of a written word of encouragement?

ILLUSTRATIONS:  

 

Quotes:

  • Too tired to sleep, too angry to pray
    Too far down to get back up, too lost to find my way

    Who knows what happened, I'm too confused to say
    And too far gone to turn back now;
    It's too late anyway

    I don't need a clever confidant to try
    To soothe with hollow words
    I've heard them all

    What I need is just to know
    I have a home within your heart
    Just hold me close. A few words will do

    We don't have to find the answers now
    It's enough to be with you
    “Home Within Your Heart,” David Wilcox
  • Christians are human beings who live in the present because they have been delivered from the guilt of the past and the fear of the future. In the end they themselves are not responsible for the past or for the future: they are therefore now, in the present, free and ‘without care’ (1 Cor. 7:3if), Oswald Bayer.

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