Play did not until after lunch after persistent rain in the morning, with the hosts resuming on 81-3 but they were soon losing wickets at regular intervals in seam-bowler friendly conditions.
Pakistan seamer Mohammad Abbas capitalised on an up-and-down Lord's pitch, offering prodigious lateral movement, to claim three wickets while fellow pacemen Khurram Shahzad and Mohammad Ali both picked up two scalps apiece.
Emilio Gay was the first to be dismissed on third day when the opener was trapped lbw by Abbas with a delivery that kept low.
Abbas continued in the same vein, removing Harry Brook and then Jamie Smith as England slipped to 149-6.
Lawrence was at the other end though continuing to play his shots and eventually strking six fours and two sixes to be exactly 50 not out when rain came down again.
It was a sixth Test half-century for the middle-order batter and is starting show promise in the number 6 position vacated by the retirement of former England skipper Ban Stokes.
Before England's innings victory in the first match against Pakistan at Headingley, where Lawrence also scored a half-century, he had played his previous Test as an opener in the home series against Sri Lanka in September 2024.
England strengthened their grip on the second Test at Lord's after Ollie Robinson and Jofra Archer combined to bowl Pakistan out for 110 on day two, leaving the hosts with a 261-run lead at stumps.
Pakistan's decision to bowl first after winning the toss paid off on a stop-start opening day of the second Test at Lord's.
Josh Tongue says Joe Root's dressing-room warning has been "100 percent" heeded by England's players as they look to move on from another off-field controversy ahead of the second Test against Pakistan at Lord's.
Joe Root has admitted he is "really hacked off" by Brydon Carse's latest off-field controversy, insisting England must rebuild trust after the fast bowler was withdrawn from the squad for the second Test against Pakistan.
