Night of Lament - Prayer Night

Outline of this was written by Wes Anderson - Edits have been made by me as I am the one who is presenting it

Introduction: Setting the Stage

Israel/Palestine

We chose this day on purpose:

Today is the 2 Year Anniversary of the horrific attack on Israel by Hamas which triggered a retaliation by Israel and the war is ongoing.

What happened and what’s going on?

Hamas sent militants into Israel and they killed 1200 people (mostly civilians) and took more than 250 hostage - with around 50 still being unaccounted for, many presumed dead.

Israel has responded with devastating force, killing tens of thousands (65,000+) of people - the majority of them civilian women and children.

Gaza has been turned to rubble due to the bombing now and mass starvation has broken out

It is truly a horrific situation where something terrible happened on Oct. 7th, and in the two years since, that tragedy has been compounded exponentially.

People are dying, in huge numbers - including Christians.

In the face of such unbelievable suffering, the Christians of the region have repeatedly called upon their brothers and sisters in the West to pray for a ceasefire.

Which is part of why we are gathered tonight.

The World is on fire…

But it only takes a cursory glance at the world to see that this is much bigger than the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.

The world is on fire…

War between Russia and Ukraine has claimed thousands of lives

And here at home, things are bad as well

A month ago, Charlie Kirk was assassinated in Utah in front of thousands of college students

in August, Iryna Zarutska - Ukrainian refugee woman was brutally killed on a train in Charlotte

In June, Minnesota State Rep - Melissa Hortman and her husband, were murdered in their home, targeted because of her position.

Our own hearts and lives are touched by sin

If we zoom in further, each of us feel it in our own lives as well.

Death and injustice and sin has such a grip on this world.

But it also has a grip on our own hearts

Whether that is sin that we wrestle with or sin that has committed by us: we have all experienced it.

Question: What is the distinctive Christian response?

I know that the war in Gaza has been politicized, but as believers, we need to avoid partisan politics and recognize that any loss of human life is tragic.

We must respond to war, all war, with grief.

Jesus said “blessed are the peacemakers” so those who call themselves followers of Christ must stand against killing and against the horrible conditions perpetuated by this war.

We should equally lament Israeli AND Palestinian deaths, and refuse to get sidetracked by political debate.

People are dying - the Imago Dei is being brutalized in horrific ways

not just in Gaza, but around the world.

And as Christians cannot take an “either/or” stance, depending on who the agressor is.

Our allegiance is not to flesh and blood, and our battle is not against flesh and blood.

If we truly believe that, then prayer becomes more than an empty platitude.

It becomes the most powerful weapon in our arsenal as we seek to push back the darkness and see Gospel Light go forth!

What is lament?

Prayerful grief shaped by the Gospel (repeat this)

Prayerful: Lament must be prayerful.

It must address God.

This is contrary to complaining or bemoaning tragedy.

Lament brings tragedy before God and lays it at His feet.

Grief: As it holds brokenness before God, true lament must not treat the pain lightly.

This is the testimony of so much of scripture.

God has the capacity to handle our pain, so we bring it to him.

We don’t gloss it over or hide it.

We don’t rush to proclaim that it will all be ok.

True lament requires a degree of being “not ok.”

Shaped by the Gospel: The Gospel provides a lens of redemption through which Christians must view reality.

Namely, the truth that God stepped into human brokenness, suffering, and sin.

He did so in order to restore us to himself and one day make all things new.

This means that any pain we experience is a participation in this gospel movement from groaning to glory, from suffering to salvation, from death to life.

True lament must embody this directional shift.

True lament is ultimately rooted in Hope - That Jesus is bigger

Flow of the Evening

Tonight will be marked by three movements, inspired and guided by Psalm 13

Every movement will contain three cycles, each with a specific focus in mind

You will have about five minutes per cycle.

Cycle One will focus on the war in Gaza

Pray for the Lord to put an end to the violence and bloodshed.

Pray that the Christians in the region would be a light in the darkness and instruments of peace.

Pray that the western church would overcome the political mindedness that paralyzes us from responding to tragedy with the mind of Christ.

Cycle Two will focus on the world more broadly - Ukraine, Assassination of Charlie Kirk, Iryna Zarutska, Hortman family, etc.

Zoom out a bit and pray over the countless instances of brokenness and war and famine and tragedy in this world.

Pray for the global church to stand boldly united in the hope of the Gospel.

Pray for global revival.

Cycle Three: Consider your own life.

Where have suffering and the effects of sin touched your life?

Pray for the areas of brokenness and death you see in your family, your neighborhood, and our city.

Pray that restoration would be a light in Bryan and beyond.

Movement I: Mourn

Instructions: vv. 1-2 display the psalmist's pain.

Psalm 13:1–2 “1 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? 2 How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?”

David is allowing himself to feel the weight of suffering and crying out to the Lord “How long?”

He is using hyperbolic language to speak of the despair and anxiety he feels over the condition of the world around him and his own life.

During this movement, spend time mourning.

Resist the urge to gloss over this section or qualify your prayers with how you think you “should feel.”

Instead bring your real and raw reactions to God.

Maybe this will come easily for you, or maybe it will be more difficult.

That’s ok, but regardless take this as an opportunity to “mourn with those who mourn” (Rom 12:15).

If you need guidance, we have a sample prayer on the sheet for you to look at - just use this time to mourn and press into the Lord.

Sample Prayer: Why, O Lord, do you allow such senseless violence to rule the earth? You are good and sovereign, yet you allow evil to persist. I am angered by the wickedness of this world. I am saddened by the loss of human life. It doesn’t make sense. How long will you delay in bringing your goodness into this situation?

First cycle: Israel/Palestine

Second cycle: This world and this country

Third cycle: Your own life

SET A TIMER FOR 15 MINUTES

Movement II: Petition

Instructions: vv. 3-4 reveal the psalmist’s petition.

Psalm 13:3–4 “3 Consider and answer me, O Lord my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death, 4 lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,” lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.”

After mourning his situation, David requests that the Lord “consider and answer” him.

His assumption is not simply that God wants to hear his honest feelings, but that God in fact has something to say about his situation.

This is what our core-value expectant worship is all about.

David has full confidence that his feelings are not final.

He trusts that God wants to speak directly into his situation in order to bring about a restoration and transformation.

During this movement, spend time asking God to speak and act in such a way as to bring His goodness and peace to bear on the reality you are facing.

This is the time to appeal to Scripture and to God’s character as you earnestly plead with him to act in accordance with who he has shown himself to be.

As before, if you need a jumpstart, there is a sample prayer you can refer to.

Sample Prayer: We know that you hear our prayers, O God, and we know that you long for justice and peace more than we ever could. Would you mercifully act to bring that peace about? Let your justice roll like a river. Heal this weary land from the disease of death. May your kingdom come, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Come Lord Jesus, come!

First cycle: Israel/Palestine

Second cycle: This world and this country

Third cycle: Your own life

SET A TIMER FOR 15 MINUTES

Movement III: Respond

Instructions: vv. 5-6 depict the psalmist’s praise.

Psalm 13:5–6 “5 But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. 6 I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.”

David’s response to suffering is trusting, rejoicing, and singing.

He has experienced God’s “faithful love” and thus can firmly plant his hope on how the story will end.

This is not an empty platitude of praise, but a powerful prophetic act of resistance in the midst of trial!

He is praising before he has been delivered, before his prayers have been answered.

He is responding in obedience because he knows the love of God.

During this movement, worship.

Thank God for his faithful and steadfast love displayed foremost on the cross.

But worship is more than thanking God.

It requires that you realign your life around the realities you are confessing to be true.

If Jesus is king then we must live our lives in light of that.

This obedience is a central part of our praise.

So ask God to reveal to you what your response should be to the brokenness of the world in light of his generous love.

Ask, then (and this is important) listen!

Sample Prayer: Thank you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for the faithful love which you have lavished on each of us. We are unworthy of even an ounce of your goodness, yet you have saved us and united us to yourself. You have invited us to be participants in bringing your rule and reign to bear on all of creation. What a high calling! Show me how you would have me respond. O God, where are you in this? I have confessed my own feelings, but how do you feel about this situation? What are you calling me to do, to set aside, to commit to? Who are you calling me to love?

First cycle: Israel/Palestine

Second cycle: This world and this country

Third cycle: Your own life