“I think we all have empathy. We may not have enough courage to display it.” – Maya Angelou
What’s the wall you feel like you are up against these days?
What kind of wall has COVID-19 thrown up in your life? Walls of anxiety? Walls of joblessness? Walls of mourning?
Aside from COVID-19 there are still many of the other concerns that are part of our lives that are still real, still worrying us, and some are made worse because of the pandemic.
How to pray when you feel like you’re up against a wall, nowhere else to go, not sure what else to do?
It’s easy to pray with anger, frustration, and resentment. But how to pray with empathy, courage and hope when up against a wall?
In Jerusalem there is a literal wall that people press themselves up against to wail when they feel like their lives are up against a wall.
The Wailing Wall in the Holy City is part of the western edge of the Temple, all that is left of what Herod beautified and Titus destroyed almost 2,000 years ago.
It’s a complicated wall, which is why it draws people to it with their complicated lives to pray, to mourn, lament, wail, intercede, plead, hope, and bless.
While there is only one Wailing Wall in the world, we can all relate to the conflicted spirits that are drawn to that wall.
While we don’t have a Wailing Wall in our city, when we feel like we are up against a wall, we can still pray like those in the Holy City where everything is “complicated” and shaped by violence, poverty, resentment, fear and hope.
What about you: if you could go to the Wailing Wall, what would you want to pray about?
How to pray when up against a wall? With trust.
You are not alone when you are up against a wall.
It can be a reality-check about where you stand with God, and the little bit of trust you have opens you up to the empathy God has for you, and it can fuel your courage and empathy towards others up against a wall.
What did I pray for when up against the Wailing Wall?
Mercy and peace for the people I know.
Cheesy, I know.
But with my head up against the wall, remembering the many conflicts in my spirit and the world around me that loom large over me, I tried to clear the clutter in my heart to hear the words of the Lord.
Up against the wall, I worked my way through the Lord’s Prayer and his Beatitudes.
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” – Jesus of Nazareth
How to pray when up against a wall?
One way is to immerse yourself in the Lord’s Prayer – own it in your spirit, trust that God is hearing you, and with you, and working to answer it in your life, no matter what is ahead of you.
Another way: open your eyes to see the blessings God has brought to you, and is bringing to you – even if all you see are stones and crevices. The Beatitudes – the Blessings – are how Jesus operates in our world with walls and wars, resentments and revenge.
When up against a wall, focus on how God blesses you, and through you, even amidst whatever you are facing.
As a Christian, praying on the heights of Mount Zion where the Jewish Temple stood for centuries, and is now a site for two Muslim mosques, it was sobering and humbling.
Seeing the beautiful Dome of the Rock mosque on the Temple Mount inspires me, but also conflicts my spirit. For some it stands as a symbol of God’s favor, for others it’s an obstacle to it.
And if I wanted it to be for me, a source of resentment towards all those who have fomented bloodshed on this site, who have perpetrated violence, who have incited hate and terror.
With a group of YMCA professionals in the OnPrinciple program, I was able to stand next to the beautiful mosques on the temple mount. It compelled me to pray for peace with a renewed earnestness.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God .” – Jesus of Nazareth
The day also included a stop in a space some believe was where Jesus hosted his last supper with his disciples before he was betrayed by Judas and handed over to the government authorities for execution.
It became a Byzantine church, then a mid-millennium mosque, then retaken as a Christian site, now operated by the Israeli government.
Here it was that Jesus washed the feet of his twelve apostles, shared a Passover meal, and then broke bread, passed a cup and asked them to remember him.
It feels “complicated” in that space now. Eucharist is complicated now. So is the gospel, salvation, and Christian hospitality. But somehow we are expected to not give up on peace and mercy.
“Blessed are those who still hunger and thirst for righteousness – for they shall be filled.” Jesus of Nazareth
Upper Room of the Last Supper, Mount Zion
How to pray when up against a wall? From the heart, with trust, courage and empathy.
Like our Lord, when he was up against the wall, we can learn to pray from him and how to bless through him.
May mercy and peace sprout from your life when you are up against a wall.