A Modern Day Lamentation

​​Stuck Between the Ruins and the Rebuild

What is Lamentation?
Lamentation is a cry of sorrow, often expressed through prayer, poetry, or song. It's not just complaining - it’s a sacred protest. It acknowledges pain while still turning toward God.
It's the kind of prayer you pray when:

• You're in despair but still reaching.
• You're confused but still clinging.
• You're hurting but still hoping.

A Lamentation Today: A Personal Prayer
You can pray a modern lament when you're walking through loss, betrayal, confusion, or trauma.
Structure of a Lament Prayer:

1. Address God honestly (O Lord...)
2. Bring your complaint (Why have You hidden Your face?)
3. Confess your trust (But I know You are near...)
4. Ask for help (Come quickly to my aid...)
5. Declare your hope (I will yet praise You...)

 
Why Lamentation Matters? 
​We often want to skip over pain and get to praise, but in Scripture, lament is the bridge between suffering and faith.

• It gives voice to those who feel forgotten.
• It reminds us that God is not afraid of our raw emotion.
• It teaches us how to suffer with hope.

 
"I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness and the gall.
I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast within me.
Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:"
--Lamentations 3:19–21
 
O God,
You see me.
You know me better than I know myself.
So why do I feel so far from You?
I'm surrounded by people who love me,
people who cheer me on-
but I feel like a stranger in the crowd.
Unseen. Uncertain. Unsteady.
How can I feel so alone when I'm not actually alone?
I don’t know where I belong.
I don’t know what step to take.
I used to thrive in Your presence-
You gave me purpose and poured out gifts,
but now I question if any of it was ever real.
Or if I disqualified myself when I disobeyed.
I lost it all.
I lost me.
And now, even as pieces fall back into place,
I feel more stuck than ever.
Half-restored. Half-willing. Half-afraid.
And fully exhausted by the weight of it all.

"He has made me dwell in darkness
like those long dead.
He has walled me in so I cannot escape;
He has weighed me down with chains."
--Lamentations 3:6–7

I feel like You’ve gone quiet.
Like I’m knocking on a door that no longer opens.
I want to draw near again, but I don’t know how.
I’m scared of failing You.
I’m scared of hearing nothing.
So I shrink back and stay far away.
But Lord... even in this mess, I know You’re still near.
I know You never left me.
I remember Your faithfulness.
I remember Your voice calling me.
I remember who I used to be when I walked with You in freedom.
And I want that again. I want You again.
So I’m asking You—help me take just one step.
Not ten. Not a leap. Just one faithful step.
Speak clearly.
Remind me that You’re not finished with me.
Show me that my gifts still matter.
Help me trust You more than I fear failure.
​
“The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him,
to the one who seeks Him;
it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.”
--Lamentations 3:25–26

Even now - when I feel lost and unsure -
I will say:
You are good.
You are faithful.
You have not abandoned me.
I’m still Yours.
 
Sometimes we’re not in the middle of a breakthrough—we’re just in the middle.
Not back in bondage, but not yet fully free.
Not where we were, not quite where we’re going.
Just… stuck.
But the God of restoration still meets us in that in-between place.
And in the words of Jeremiah, we dare to echo:
​
“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is Your faithfulness.”
--Lamentations 3:22–23
 
Journal with me:
What is one area where I feel stuck?
And what is one small step of faith I can take to move forward, even in fear?