Praying the Psalms

I recently did a bible study that involved reading and praying through the book of Psalms.

As I was doing it, I began to see that virtually every verse in there is either a promise, a praise, or both.

Praying the book of Psalms is a tall order. It took working on it daily for a little over 4 months to get through it.

I didn’t try to rush.

I didn’t try to cover a lot of territory at one time.

I just paid careful attention to the verse I was on and the various parts of it.

 

The study started at chapter one so that’s where I started.

As I read each verse, I prayed it in one of several ways.

I either:

-Prayed it as it was written, which worked for a lot of the praise verses;

-Prayed, “help me not to…”,. whatever the verse was warning against doing;

-Prayed, “help me to….”, whatever the verse was saying we should do or be;

-Prayed, “show me when I act this way so I can correct it…”, whenever the verse was warning against certain unhealthy actions and attitudes

Or,

-Prayed, “help me to remember who You are”, whenever the verse declared His majesty or mentioned any of His traits, grace, or goodness.

 

It really opened my eyes to a lot of things.

I found that the farther along I went, the more aware I became of God’s good will toward us.

I began to feel more open to Him and to His love.

I also began to feel an urge to praise Him, even when I wasn’t reading a Psalm.

The more I read, the more I saw God’s character.

I saw clearly His desire for us as well as the way He wants to protect and bless us.

 

It took a long time to complete but I learned so much and it changed me in so many good ways.

I plan to try to do it at least once a year.

I’m certain the more I do it, the deeper my understanding and love for Him will become.

 

If you’ve never prayed the Psalms I highly recommend it.

If you can’t commit to the whole book then pick a chapter and try it.

There’s so much good stuff in there, you’ll be really glad you did!

 

Let me know if you have other ideas about how to pray the Psalms.

I’d love to try them!

 

 

 

For my post on praying scriptures in general, please see my post, Praying Scriptures

 

 

 

 

P.R.A.Y. Sheet

I’ve created a handy reference to guide you through the steps of prayer.

It is based on the letters of the word PRAY:

 

Praise – Praise and thank God for all He has done, is doing, and will do for you and those around you. Praise Him for His goodness, His grace and mercy, His character, anything about Him that is good. 

    If you want to find phrases to use, look through the book of Psalms. It is full of things to praise God for. 

 

Repent – Confess anything you need to, either that you knew before you started praying, or that comes up as you are praying and praising God. 

    Repent – to agree with God that the action was wrong, that He is right, to apologize to Him, and to commit to not do it again.

 

Ask – Make any requests you have for you or for others. 

Share with God anything that is on your heart, or that you feel you need to talk to Him about, both good and bad, big or small. 

 

Yes – Commit to doing, changing, improving, stopping anything you feel prompted or led to. 

    Agree to follow God and His path, and to improve your serve and commitment to Him. 

 

Close with a few words of thanking God for hearing your prayer and for listening to you. Tell Him how you appreciate the gift of being able to come to Him at any time.

 

 

I hope the simple explanations this sheet contains will help you in your prayer life.

Feel free to download a copy and tuck it in your Bible or prayer journal.

 

Free Downloadable/Printable  PRAY Sheet PDF

 

This P.R.A.Y. sheet was written as part of my lesson outline on How to Pray.

Free Downloadable/Printable How to Pray Lesson Outline PDF

 

A list of all available lessons can be found on my Lessons Outlines page

 

 

 

Praying Personalized Scripture – Sunday School Outline

Today’s Lesson is part review, part mash-up of previous lessons. 

We’ve studied how to pray. (read that post here)

We’ve looked at what Scripture is and how to study it. (Read those posts here and here)

Today we are going to combine the two.

Today we are going to practice praying Scripture. 

There are several reasons why we might do this.

It honors God and shows Him we are paying attention to His Word, the Bible, and that we have respect for both it and Him.

It brings us closer to God.
     We can better see how the Scriptures were written for us and that He does understand us.
          Because Jesus came to earth as a man He knows first hand what it’s like to live in this fallen world. 

     It helps us see that Scripture does apply to and affect us.
          Seeing how relevant to us they are makes obeying them easier.

Because the Scriptures are God’s own Word, we know that if we are praying the Scripture we are asking for things that God has already offered, mentioned, suggested, and instructed us about. 
     This means we are praying in God’s will!

As you are going through the Scripture you will see that some, especially in the Psalms, are already written first-person. 

Those are easy to pray. 
     You just pray them as they are written.

This exercise will help you with the ones that aren’t. 

Here’s how to do it:

Continue reading

How to Pray – Sunday School Outline

A lot of people have a lot of ideas about what prayer is, so let’s start with the actual definition.

I went to Blue Letter Bible and looked up the original Greek from several places in the New Testament.

There were 2 words in the definitions that kept coming up:

Intercession – to go to or meet a person, esp. for the purpose of conversation, consultation, or supplication
     to pray, entreat

Supplication – need, indigence, want, privation, penury
     a seeking, asking, entreating, entreaty to God or to man

From this we can see prayer is talking to God about a problem or situation you or someone else has.

It is NOT a one-way transaction or monologue.

It is a conversation.
     We don’t just insert a prayer or two and go on our merry way, expecting to receive what we need.

Continue reading

See You At the Pole 2019

Today

7 a.m. (local time)

Please pray for the students who will be expressing their faith by gathering at their school’s flag pole this morning

 

if My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14 (NIV)

 

For more information, please see the See You At the Pole website

 

 

Global Week of Student Prayer 2019

Today marks the beginning of the Global Week of Student Prayer.

It is a time set aside to focus on praying for students, schools, teachers, and administrators.

The highlight of this week is Wednesday, September 25th, (7 a.m. local time) when students all over the country will gather at their school’s flag pole to pray together.

This year’s theme is “if…”.

It references the verse 2 Chronicles 7:14:

if My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (NIV)

I encourage you to spend time this week praying for our schools and their leaders.

Please also pray for Christian students to show up and pray that morning.

Pray they are a light in the darkness for the others to see.

Ask the Father to give them the words they need to share His love with their fellow students.

Today’s students are tomorrow’s leaders. It’s imperative we cover them in prayer as they grow so they will become the person God has called them to be.

 

If you would like more information, please check out the See You At the Pole website by clicking here.

 

 

National Day of Prayer

Today is the National Day of Prayer.

It’s a day we come together and turn to God in prayer, interceding for our nation’s leaders and its families.

This Year’s theme is,”Love One Another”.

Please take a few minutes, either at one of the many events all over the country or in your own quiet time, to pray and ask God to help, strengthen, protect, and guide our leaders and our families. Ask God to turn their hearts back to Him and the path He has laid out.

Ask God to change us to a nation of people who love one another and care for each other the way He has designed us to.

If you would like more information on the National Day of Prayer please click here.