Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools by Tyler Staton
Week 5: Chapter 4 — Lament
Read Chapter 4 of Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools. Primary passages: Psalm 22; Lamentations 3:1–26.
Previewing Week 5 of Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools
Read 3 of 8 discussion questions below. Unlock the complete 12-week guide when you’re ready.
Lament is the prayer of the broken-hearted — raw, unpolished, and unflinching — and Staton makes the case that the church has largely lost this language to its great impoverishment. These questions invite you to recover what the Psalms never let go of.
Discussion Questions
8 questions1.Staton notes that roughly one-third of the Psalms are laments — the largest single category in Israel's hymnbook. Does that proportion surprise you? What does it say about what God considers acceptable prayer?
2.He makes a distinction between *complaining* and *lamenting* — complaining turns away from God in bitterness, while lament turns toward God in grief. That distinction can feel subtle in practice. How do you know which one you are doing when you bring your pain to God?
3.Psalm 22 opens with "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" — words Jesus quoted from the cross. Staton points out that this is not a faithless cry but a prayer: the psalmist addresses God directly, accuses him, and refuses to let go. What does it teach us that these words are preserved in Scripture and on the lips of the Son of God himself?