". . ., but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words. Romans 8:26

I invite you to explore and reflect on the ways that we become more aware of how we can interact with God. I will discuss ways that we can become more sensitive and aware of God's presence in our daily life.

Monday, April 26, 2010

Praying the Psalms

One of the greatest resources that we have in our life of prayer is the book of Psalms. The Psalms are the hymns and the prayers of the early community of faith. They were used in corporate worship and by individuals during personal time of prayer.

A good prayer exercise is to incorporate the Psalms into your individual prayer life. To successfully do this, you must first get to know the Psalms. Take the next 6 to 8 weeks and use one of your prayer times to read several of the Psalms. Read them out loud.

Take a few minutes to write down the ones that you like or that speak to you or for you. Write down any that you may want to remember as a resource. This could be a Psalm for giving thanks or it might be a Psalm of lament, that might help you one day.

Pay attention to the brief titles or descriptions that some of the Psalms have. Some of these mention instructions to the choir director or a melody that the Psalm was sung to. Unfortunately, none of the music has survived.

Others reveal that a Psalm was written at a particularly difficult time in someone's life. Psalm 51 was written by David after Nathan the prophet confronted him about his sins in seducing Bathsheba and killing her husband. (You might want to read 2 Samuel 11:1 to 12:14 and then re-read Psalm 51)

You may discover the riches of the Psalms and how they may enhance your life of prayer. The Psalms are one of the best resources to imspire us and help us to grow in prayer.

I welcome comments WordsandSighs@gmail.com

Read a Psalm today.

Pastor Michael

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