Wednesday 14th January

Quiet your heart and mind. Consider placing your hands, palms up, in front of you. Release what is distracting and receive God’s gift. What does He have for you today?

“Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;"

Psalm 95:6

Ponder: Jesus lovingly touched many and brought healing. Think of some Bible people Jesus healed.

Scripture

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
    Why are you so far from saving me,
    so far from my cries of anguish?
My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
    by night, but I find no rest.
I am poured out like water,
    and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart has turned to wax;
    it has melted within me.
My mouth is dried up like a potsherd,

    and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
    you lay me in the dust of death.
 Dogs surround me,
    a pack of villains encircles me;
    they pierce my hands and my feet.
 All my bones are on display;
    people stare and gloat over me.
They divide my clothes among them
    and cast lots for my garment.
 But you, Lord, do not be far from me.
    You are my strength; come quickly to help me.

Psalm 22:1-2, 14-19

First, think about your own life and relationship to God. Read the lament again and pay attention to what stands out for you. Read it again and open your heart for Jesus’ touch. Palms open to receive.

“I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

“My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” In this most poignant of prayers, we pray the prayer of Jesus on the cross lifted high, every bone out of joint, hands and feet pierced, back torn to shreds, limbs twisted, forehead bleeding, mouth dry and unbearably thirsty, sinking into the creeping darkness. Lament expresses the reality of suffering, the agony of life. And all the more, when the suffering is a direct consequence of obedience. 

“But You, O Lord, be not far off; O You my help, hasten to my assistance." The Father is near even in this felt absence. Suffering for obedience draws out lament as prayer of enduring trust in the Father. 

Lament gives us words when we cannot find words to express our anguish. 

We pray Jesus’ prayer to enter more deeply into the reality of the cross of Christ. We pray it also with the psalmist as the expression of his and our experience. Lament draws us into a deeper awareness of God, of our longing to do God’s will and proclaim Him in the congregation. For the psalmist God has intervened. The cry for relief has purged the soul, leading to a vow of deepened obedience, generating redemption. Suffering provides a platform like no other for that self-forgetting prayer that worships Christ in His unique suffering whilst drawing out our deeper truer self, surrendered to oneness with our suffering Christ, a posture that leads to salvation for others and greater glory for God.  

Howard Dueck, Executive Vice President/Regions, Canada

Now ask God who you can pray this prayer for. What part of their suffering could you pray for? What truth could you pray into their life?

Kids’ Question: Psalm 22 paints a picture of suffering and grief. Mr. Dueck paints of picture of Jesus’ suffering in this devotional. Draw a picture of suffering and grief in your own life.