Practice: Lament
Have someone read this aloud:
Psalm 13:1-4
How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long will I store up anxious concerns within me,
agony in my mind every day?
How long will my enemy dominate me?
Consider me and answer, Lord my God.
Restore brightness to my eyes;
otherwise, I will sleep in death.
My enemy will say, “I have triumphed over him,”
and my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.
The world is broken. Things are not the way they should be, and we can talk to God about that. In Psalm 13, David is reckoning with how things are broken in his life, and he brings those things honestly to God. Following in David’s form, let’s take a couple minutes to lament in prayer to God the things that we’re sad, angry, or confused about.
(Take 2 minutes to pray silently)
Have someone pray this to close: Lord, have mercy on us. Lead us through Your word and Spirit to trust you.
Amen
Read Scripture and Pray for the Sermon:
Have someone read this scripture aloud and pray
1 Peter 2:9-12
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.
Lord, open our hearts and minds by the power of your Holy Spirit, that we may hear your Word with joy. Amen.
SERMON