Praying The Psalms
- Kenny Marchetti
- Jun 2, 2008
We best learn to pray by learning to pray the Book of Psalms in the center of our Bible. The Book of Psalms is the worship and prayer book of Holy Scripture. These psalms are hymn-prayers to our God that cover the wide-range of our unique wants and diverse needs, as well as the depths of our nuanced expressions of prayer, such as praise, confession, thanksgiving, petition, lament, affirmation, etc. The people of God have been praying these psalms personally and communally for thousands of years. So, why not start with Psalm 1, praying through one, consecutive psalm each day? There are 150 psalms, so at this beginning pace you will pray through the entire Psalter in just five months. Then as you become more familiar with prayer and the psalms, increase your daily participation until you pray five psalms per day. Praying in this more extensive and expansive way, you will journey through the complete Psalter every month.
The Bible’s exhortation to us is to “pray continually,” meaning to pray in an ongoing, intentional way throughout the day and night. Traditionally, this kind of prayer has been embraced by God’s people according to the “Divine Hours” of set times for prayer, such as in the morning, noonday, evening, night, etc. So how about following the caring counsel of one pastor who said, “Give God the best time of your day”? Are you a morning person? Then begin your day in prayer. Or is nighttime better for you? Then start by finishing your evening in prayer. Regardless of which time you enter into prayer, gradually add prayer to the remaining moments of your whole day and entire evening.