2. Raw Prayers: Psalms That Move Us from Hurt to Healing

3. Praying Whatever Is Hanging Over Us
Psalm 137
Praying Whatever Is Hanging Over Us

5. In the darkest of times, God hears us and responds to us when…
We grieve over a crisis that throws us into a new normal.

6. Verse 1
Beside the rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept as we thought of Jerusalem.

7. Verse 2
We put away our harps, hanging them on the branches of poplar trees.

8. Verse 3
For our captors demanded a song from us. Our tormentors insisted on a joyful hymn: “Sing us one of those songs of Jerusalem!”

9. Verse 4
But how can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a pagan land?

11. Verses 5-6
If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget how to play the harp. May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I fail to remember you, if I don’t make Jerusalem my greatest joy.

13. In the darkest of times, God hears us and responds to us when…
We rage at the evil that has brought us the trauma.

14. Verses 7-9
O Lord, remember what the Edomites did on the day the armies of Babylon captured Jerusalem. “Destroy it!” they yelled. “Level it to the ground!” O Babylon, you will be destroyed. Happy is the one who pays you back for what you have done to us. Happy is the one who takes your babies and smashes them against the rocks!

16. “It is an act of profound faith to entrust one’s most precious hatreds to God, knowing they will be taken seriously.” -- Walter Brueggemann

17. Our hate needs to be prayed, not suppressed
Our hate needs to be prayed, not suppressed. Hate is our emotional link with evil. It is the volcanic eruption of outrage when the holiness of being, ours or another’s, has been violated. Hate is often the first sign that we care…it is easy to be honest before God with our hallelujahs; it is somewhat more difficult to be honest in our hurts; it is nearly impossible to be honest before God in the dark emotions of our hate...

18. …in prayer, not all is sweetness and light
…in prayer, not all is sweetness and light. The way of prayer is not to cover our unlovely emotions so they will appear respectable, but expose them so they can be enlisted into the work of God’s kingdom.”

19. In the darkest of times, God hears us and responds to us when…
We yearn to “bring down” the pain hanging over us, place it at Christ’s feet, and begin to heal.