Church camp 2025 – Session 2: Faith (Lament as a Prayer of Faith)

Saturday 15th February 2025 – Lindsay Wilson

Introduction: Lament has been neglected in the Christian church

What is lament?
– widespread in the Old Testament
– a form of petitionary prayer
– addressed to God, and moves towards him
– includes complaint, strong emotion, protest and even accusation
– can include repentance but need not do so

What is the value of lament?
– expressing raw honesty before God
– talking to God rather than taking timeout
– believing that God is big enough to take our pain
– an alternative to ‘false repentance’

Lament is not overridden by the death and resurrection of Jesus
– it is not sub-Christian
– lament in the New Testament

Lament is still pastorally useful in the church and world today

Conclusion