On the first Sunday of October, I was asked to prepare the worship service and deliver the sermon. I chose the theme “When Fear Prays,” based on Acts 4:23-31. Aware of the subtle comments of fear, despair, and hopelessness in the congregation, a sacred moment unfolded as I preached. As I reflected on the early disciples, I realized that after facing opposition, they returned to their community and prayed not for protection, but for courage. That act of communal prayer transformed fear into boldness.

Throughout the week, I was surprised to hear several congregants share, often with emotion, that the service had given voice to their own unspoken fears and allowed them to bring their despair before God. This pastoral moment revealed that worship is more than ritual comfort; it’s a prophetic space where vulnerability meets divine empowerment. Don Saliers describes such worship as “embodied theology,” one that is “both God-attentive and thoroughly grounded in human life,”[1] reawakening the church’s call to hope in the face of despair.

Across the United States, communities are facing unprecedented levels of despair. Reports of anxiety, loneliness, and depression have reached record highs, revealing a profound loss of communal trust and hope.[2] Churches also carry this burden, as worshipers bring their unspoken grief into sanctuaries lacking the words to express lament. Within this context, the church’s priestly task begins not in speaking, but in listening, attending to the cries that rise from the weary and the wounded.

Lament, throughout Scripture, challenges the denial of suffering and fear, becoming a pathway to divine encounter when brought to God in prayer. From the psalmist’s cries to Jesus’s prayer on the cross, honest sorrow is welcomed by God. Tercio Junker reminds us that the liturgy becomes prophetic when it interprets suffering as a site of divine encounter, where God’s Spirit begins to reorder human pain toward redemptive purpose.[3] Thus, despair does not end the conversation of faith; it initiates it.

Prophetic worship takes shape in communal practice that allows for expressions of lament and despair while encouraging resilience. Music, prayer, ritual, and shared silence are means through which the worshipers find language for grief and discover that they are not alone. Participating in worship helps the hearts respond theologically to fear and suffering instead of reacting emotionally to chaos. In Hispanic/Latino communities like mine, music, prayer, and testimonies hold significant importance. We express our faith through coritos, intercession, and testimonios, reminding us of who God is when everything else falters.

If worship listens and forms, proclamation interprets and sends. Prophetic preaching offers God’s divine reality to human despair. Through this kind of preaching, the congregation is reoriented by the invitation to imagine the world from God’s perspective. The sermon openly addresses fear and despair to offer courageous hope, urging the church to witness resurrection power and declare that despair never has the final word. Preaching, then, is not mere exhortation but theological witness. When sermons, songs, and prayers name fear, loss, and despair while proclaiming grace, they function as moments where divine future breaks into human time.

Ultimately, prophetic worship and proclamation employ sacred language through which congregants face despair and rediscover the God who listens, heals, and sends. My experience on the first Sunday of October, with congregants finding a voice for their unspoken fears, deepened my understanding of the urgent need for prophetic worship and proclamation. This form of worship creates a sacred space that empowers the church to embody the courage required to boldly proclaim God’s living hope, a hope that rises above despair and inspires transformation.

Published in the January 2026 issue of For the Messengers

Rev. Liza L. Miranda, Associate Minister at Conéctame Church in Miami, Florida, is a worship professor, pastor, and music minister from Bayamón, Puerto Rico, with over twenty years of experience. She has mentored leaders, developed innovative worship practices, served as First Vice-Moderator of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and teaches worship and spiritual formation at seminaries. Rev. Miranda continues her work in worship design, preaching, writing, and leadership development alongside her husband, Rev. Vilson Hurtado.

[1] Saliers, Don E. Worship as Theology: Foretaste of Glory Divine. (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994), 25.
[2] Gallup. “Daily Loneliness Afflicts One in Five in U.S.” Gallup News, October 12, 2024.
https://news.gallup.com/poll/651881/daily-loneliness-afflicts-one-five.aspx.
Gallup. “U.S. Depression Rate Remains Historically High.” Gallup News, October 9, 2025.
https://news.gallup.com/poll/694199/u.s.-depression-rate-remains-historically-high.aspx.
Mental Health America. State of Mental Health in America 2025. September 2025.
https://mhanational.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/State-of-Mental-Health-2025.pdf.
[3] Junker, Tércio Bretanha. Prophetic Liturgy: Toward a Transforming Christian Praxis. (Eugene, Oregon: Pickwick Publications, 2014), .

You might also find helpful:

• What Do We Preach? — explores the purpose and prophetic calling at the heart of proclamation
• Preaching as Resistance — on the preacher’s vocation in times of social and political upheaval
• Beyond — a Disciples congregational resource on moving through fear toward bold, Spirit-led action