Sad Songs Say So Much

While dying on the cross, Jesus prayed, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me” (Matthew 27:46), a quotation from Psalm 22:1. This Psalm of lament provides a pattern for how we can pray when life is hard. We can talk to God about: 1) the problems and challenges we’re facing, 2) the feelings that accompany those hardships, 3) the “why?” and “how long?” questions that often plague us when life is most difficult, 4) our attempts to figure out the extent to which our problems arise: 4a) because of our own choices, 4b) because of the actions and decisions of other people, 4c) or even God’s role in our hardships, 5) an expression of trust, showing our faith even as we might be wrestling with doubt, and 6) our requests for God to rescue us from the challenges we’re facing. These prayers are one way that God helps us work through our suffering.