Page 60 - The Importance of Prayer Student Textbook

attributes his success in preaching to these prayer partners. The apostle Paul never solicited money
from his followers, but five times in the scriptures and presumably many more times, he asked people to
pray for him. I Thessalonians 5:25 Brothers, pray for us. 2 Thessalonians 3:1 Finally, Brothers, pray for us.
(See also Romans 15:30, Ephesians 6:19 and Colossians 4:3) I have been taught that a rule of Biblical
interpretation is to look for words and phrases that are repeated in scriptures, if you want to learn what
God is emphasizing. Certainly, this matter of finding prayer partners is of some importance being
mentioned five times.

Psalms of Lament

Psalm 77 is a prime example of a Psalm of Lament. The writer is in deep trouble and crying out to God.
In the Psalmist own words, he is crying out and shouting (Psalm 77:1) troubled (Psalm77:2) Moaning
(Psalm 77:3) searching for God (Psalm 77:2) Longing for help (Psalm 77:3) and so desperate he cannot
pray or sleep (Psalm 77:4). Some Christians think that showing these kinds of emotions is a lack of faith,
that a person of deep faith only expresses positive emotions like joy and peace. Some people teach that
the emotional words found in these Psalms show that a person is spiritually weak and does not trust
God. But the Psalms of lament teach us something different. The very fact that over one-third of all the
Psalms are laments or complaints shows us that God is ready to hear our cry. He chose to include a
number of these kind of prayers in His holy word so we could learn how to express our distress.

Lament Psalms follow with certain characteristics, some of which can be seen in Psalm 77. Four of the
main parts are calling out to God and asking for help (Psalm 77:1-3) expressing the lament) Psalm 77:4-
10) then choosing to remember how God acted in the past, and then praising Him on that basis (Psalm
77:11-20). God does not ask His children to pretend to be something they are not or to be dishonest
about their struggles. He encourages us to tell the truth about our distress and trouble, to give voice to
our doubts and fears. But we should not stop there. We must go on to remember with praise and
thanksgiving all the ways God has provided Himself in the past. Those memories and offerings of praise
for God’s great deeds gives us hope for the future. Let our words show we are weak and struggling
people who choose to trust in a powerful and faithful God, even when all seems dark around us!

Imprecatory Prayers (Especially found in the Psalms)

Nehemiah 4: 4 Listen, our God, for we are despised. Make their insults return on their own heads and let
them be taken as plunder to a land of captivity. Do not cover their guilt or let their sin be erased from
Your sight, because they have provoked the builders. In chapter four when Nehemiah sees the work of
rebuilding the wall threatened, he begins to pray. However, this prayer is what theologians call an
imprecatory prayer. An imprecatory prayer is prayer asking God to kill, maim, curse, send into eternal
damnation, or otherwise harm an enemy. The Psalms are full of imprecatory prayers. (Psalm 3, 5, 17,
28,41,59, 69, 83, 109, 137, 139 and others) Theologians seem to be divided on this kind of praying. In
the Holman Christian Standard Bible, the writer of the footnotes writes this. “Such a prayer seems out
place in light of Jesus’ teaching (Matthew 5:43-47), it must be remembered that Nehemiah was writing
before the cross in the context of the old covenant. While we cannot pray a prayer like Nehemiah's, we
can emulate his passion for God to bring justice to an unjust world." However, the Evangelical Dictionary
of Theology takes a very different stand. “Imprecatory Psalms compel the question of whether they can
have any place in Christian Scripture. Two background remarks are in place. First, imprecations are
found in the New Testament also, not least the maledictions of the Lord himself. Matthew 23:13-32 and
the apostolate anathemas Galatians 1:8-9; Revelation 6:10; 18:20. Second, the notable imprecatory
Psalms 69 is used by the Lord Jesus in John 15:25… It is impossible, therefore, to dismiss the imprecatory

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