How to pray a prayer of anguish
Have you ever felt emotionally raw and desperate? Angry, even? My first response in these situations is either to rage at God or someone else. God is a better choice. The best response is to pray a prayer of anguish. To lament. It’s one of the ways that God responds to human desperation.
Grief, when directed at God, is a prayer. It’s a lamentation that expects a response. Anguish can prompt the most beautiful and heart-felt prayers we ever pray.
Maybe you’re not sure what to say. That’s okay, too. The Holy Spirit hears the groaning of our hearts and responds to us with grace and love (Romans 8:26-27).
I go directly to Psalms when I need to groan. I start at Psalm 3, and I just keep going until I’ve said enough. I’ve underlined a lot of verses about anguish and fairness and deliverance in those pages, so I pray those verses back to God. Somehow, reading the Psalms give power to my prayer and assuage any guilt I’d have for expressing my pain and misery.
Praying God’s words back to him keeps my prayer a lament instead of a complaint. Fortunately, most of David’s Psalms end with the correct theology that God is good, and He will do good on my behalf. In context, these verses have power; out of context, they might seem cliché.
Here are a few of my favorite passages, turned into prayers that you can use during your dark times:
“Lord, I am in distress! Listen to me! Reach down your hand and hold me up!” (Ps. 18:6)
“Lord, have mercy on me! I’m traumatized. My body and soul are wracked with grief. I can’t go on! I feel all my strength fading away. I’m not going to survive. Please rescue me!” (Ps. 31:9-10)
“Lord, I am in desperate need. My enemies surround me, wanting me to fail. Only you can help me. I wait for you to work in my life. Please hurry, before I lose everything!” (Ps. 31:15-16)
“Lord, I am watching the wicked succeed all around me. I’m holding my tongue, even though I want to scream that it’s not fair. I’m trying to honor you, but my anguish is increasing. Give me perspective, God! Show me how this will end! But until then, teach me to have hope in you alone.” (Ps. 39:1-7)
“Lord, I am so discouraged. All my confidence is gone. I have given up hope. Help me to remember your faithfulness. My spirit is thirsty for you. Please come and refresh me!” (Ps. 143)
So take a minute and pray a psalm of agony. Cry out. God will answer you, because that’s who he is. He is acquainted with grief. He can’t help but respond to the cries of his children!
image by George Hodan
