…addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, Ephesians 5:19 ESV
In February of last year, I wrote a newsletter entitled, “Praying Scripture.” In that newsletter, I gave some suggestions for using the Scriptures to enhance our private and public prayer times. I recommended the use of prayers that are in Scripture to prompt us to pray for the specific needs that we bring before the Lord. Although I mentioned in that newsletter using the psalms, I want to focus more on the idea of praying the psalms.
Christians in every generation have found the psalms to be a valuable resource for prayer. I have only recently begun using the psalms in my prayer times and have found them very helpful in expressing adoration, confession, thanksgiving and supplication to the Lord. I began using the psalms in praying for revival with other men in weekly and monthly prayer groups meeting on Zoom. That encouraged me to look at other psalms to use them in my prayer times. [If you would like to join one of these groups, contact The Fellowship of Ailbe at www.ailbe.org for more information.]
I then began to look at the psalms as a means to express my heart to the Lord. I began with a familiar psalm, Psalm 23. I read through the psalm several times to get a better understanding of what the psalmist was saying. I started to imagine myself as being out in a field tending sheep and keeping an eye out for predators. I saw several topics for prayer that I would then pray. Each time I read the psalm, the Holy Spirit would point out areas in my life that I could pray. I would often take one verse at a time and meditate on that verse waiting for the Lord to prompt me. I have now moved on to many other psalms, usually the shorter ones, and have been blessed by this exercise. I feel that God is pleased hearing his psalms being spoken to him.
Last year, I began working with one of our Brothers in the Fellowship of Ailbe to write a book to help develop this concept of praying the psalms. We have now published Praying with the Psalms, and it is available in the Ailbe Bookstore. We have taken 50 psalms we think can enrich your prayer life. We recommend you take one psalm a week and follow the seven-day suggested practical exercises for each psalm. We have not placed any version of the Bible in the book so you will use your preferred translation. We have left room for you to take notes on what you prayed. Go to: https://store.ailbe.org/product/praying-with-the-psalms/ to order the book or download a pdf at: https://store.ailbe.org/product/praying-with-the-psalms-pdf/.
Begin praying the psalms right away. Grow into this rich resource for prayer, and discover the joy of meeting the Lord in the very words He has given us to seek Him in prayer.
David Timbie
