Prayers of Lament in the Life of the Atrium

By: Jodi-beth McCain

Prayers of lament are found in the Bible in the Psalms and in the writings of the prophet Jeremiah, especially in the aptly titled book of Lamentations. In lament, all feelings are shared with God in prayer, including pain, sorrow, anger, and confusion. I was led to introduce this practice with children in the Level 3 atrium, initially in response to the weight and sorrows they expressed during the Covid pandemic. Since then, Lament has become an element of personal and communal prayer, one that the children often choose.  

While confronting the brokenness of the world can be overwhelming, even for adults, the 4th, 5th, and 6th graders I’ve prayed with these past few years seem to welcome the invitation to lament. From the age of 2 or 3, the children have been introduced to the parable of the Good Shepherd who calls his sheep by name and they enter into lament from this place of love, from the lap of the Good Shepherd and the deep connectedness of the True Vine. Since first grade, the children have also prayed communally each week in a service led by two classmates who choose the songs, prayers, and a scripture passage. From this foundation of love and deep knowing of God’s goodness and justice,  and their ease with communal prayer, a facility in prayers of lament seems to spring. 

Last year, for a lenten prayer service, two children volunteered to serve as prayer service leaders and chose to read and reflect on Psalm 13. They then invited everyone to write their own laments on slips of paper. These were read aloud. After each one, the group responded, saying together, “I trust in your mercy” (Psalm 13:5). The laments shared included references to injustice, cruelty, greed, sadness, hate, loneliness, death and killing, war, animals ill from pollution, people experiencing homelessness and others not helping them. When all were read, they were placed in a bowl. One of the prayer leaders then shared, “So as you know without water this planet couldn’t be as living as it is now. There wouldn’t be grass. The grass would turn brown and all the plants and animals would die. It would be a lot less alive. We’re going to pour water on these laments to heal them.” He then poured a pitcher of water into the bowl holding the slips of paper. 

The prayer service ended with the song “Peace is Flowing Like a River,” with the group of children spontaneously suggesting substitution words for “peace,” including healing, strength, kindness, life, light, God, nature, friendship, community and truth. 

During another Lenten prayer service, the prayer service leaders chose to meet outside, sitting in a circle among newly planted young trees. They invited their classmates to pray “popcorn lament,” explaining, “just say your laments anytime you want but not while anyone else is talking.” For over 15 minutes, children spoke aloud their laments. The prayer of one seemed to spark prayers of others, with many praying for the same or similar themes. During the prayer a 5th grader commented, “I just realized that we have a lot more than I thought of things that are wrong with our community. I hope we can fix that.” After the prayers of lament, the prayer service leaders invited all to pray the Prayers of the Faithful. This same 5th grader prayed: “I pray that the people know we have to help to make Parousia come…it’s not just going to come, you have to help so everything can get better and we can have a better world.” While this child was surprised by how much he and his classmates were lamenting, he was not overwhelmed. Instead he gave voice to the need to “help make Parousia come.” He recognized God at work in the midst of all that is “wrong” and knew God’s invitation to enter into the work of bringing into being a better world.

Lament invites us to name the truth of our emotions and entrust it all to God.  We can then respond by walking more closely with the God of love and working along with God to create the beloved community that Martin Luther King, Jr.  spoke of, the Parousia that God has promised.

If you are interested in exploring prayers of lament in your own prayer life and/or with children in the atrium, you can find out more about Jodi-beth’s research and observations on our website https://cctheo.org/project-lament-prayers/ and from the latest edition of  Grace Notes https://gracespacefamilies.org/issue-15-march-2026/, our monthly newsletter supporting family faith.  

You can also contact her at jodi-beth@cctheo.org to request the Prayers of Lament album page, or if you are interested in sharing prayers of lament with the children you accompany and sharing feedback for her on-going research.