4 Practices & Promises for People Who Are Hurting

Psalm 77 | Pastor Kyle Hall

Turn to God; He is With You | v. 1-3

Lament: Prayer in pain that leads to trust.

• Turn: An invitation in your pain to cry out to God.
• Complain: Express your complaints to God based on who He is.
• Ask: Ask God for help.
• Trust: Moving from complaint to confidence in who God is.

Cry out to God; He Hears You | v. 4-9

“Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places. To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments.” – Habakkuk 3:15-17

What’s holding you back from letting the Spirit of God draw out the darkness in your heart and turn it into light?

Neglecting to cry out to God in prayer can hinder our hearing of God in Scripture.

Remember the Way and Works of the Lord; He is Holy and Faithful | v. 10-14

Meditating on the Word of God keeps the way and works of the Lord at the forefront of your heart and mind amidst trials.

Every trial in this life will test the strength of your belief in God’s goodness and holiness.

Hope in Your Redeemer; He is Your Deliverer | v. 15-20

You were dead in the trespasses and sins… by nature children of wrath. – Ephesians 2:1-3

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son… – Galatians 4:4–5

He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. – Hebrews 1:3

…and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. – Isaiah 9:6

…being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. – Philippians 2:8

He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; …and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. – Isaiah 53:3-6

Christ died for our sins…, he was buried, and he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and he appeared to more than five hundred brothers… – 1 Corinthians 15:3-7

So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. – Hebrews 9:28

Application Questions

What is holding you back from going to God with raw prayers and hearing His Word in response?

What promises or characteristics of God can you meditate on to strengthen your faith for trials?

How can you point others who are hurting to the promises and presence of God?

Attached is a resource for learning the practice of lament. In what ways can you grow in the practice of lamenting?

Resource on Lament