Work

Honest to God: A Qualitative Study of Engaging with God in Lament

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Lament is an ancient form of prayer that has been neglected in American Christianity. Biblical lament—seen throughout scripture and particularly in the psalms—typically follows a pattern: the sufferer addresses God, brings an honest complaint to God, makes a request of God, reminds themself of God’s past work on their behalf, and ends in expressions of confidence in God in a posture of active, willing surrender. After participating in a four-week daily lament program, 32 participants who reported a recent difficult life circumstance were interviewed about their experiences with lament. Using thematic analysis, we found that four mechanisms—permission for emotional honesty with God (reported by 69% of participants), biblical passages that mirror participants’ experiences (66%), emotional processing (88%), and grounding through the return to praise (31%)—helped increase their intimacy with God (66%), providing a new perspective, hope, or peace (25%).

Source: Journal of Psychology and Theology

DOI: 10.1177/00916471251388086