The Psalms are a rich treasure for our times of prayer and communion with God. In them, we find the psalmists calling out to God in the midst of every kind of situation — whether their hearts are joyful, angry, afraid, sorrowful, doubting, discouraged, rejoicing, mourning, troubled, or singing praise. Because of this, the Psalms are an amazingly helpful tool to guide prayer and teach us to call out to God in every circumstance.
Possible outline
- Choose a psalm that mirrors the feelings of your own heart, or choose one that you long to more fully live in light of. A few possibilities are listed below.
- This activity can be done sitting or walking. If you would like to walk, prepare in advance by printing or writing the Psalm on a piece of paper to take with you.
- Take a moment to commit the time to God, and ask him to guide your time.
- Slowly read through the psalm once to get a feeling for the tone and structure.
- Return to the beginning and pray through the psalm verse by verse. You can pray the verse word for word and then expand upon it, expressing your heart to God. Or, you can paraphrase the psalm in your own words as a personal prayer to God.
- If a verse or section seems especially relevant, take some more time praying through those verses.
- After you have finished praying through the psalm, take a few moments to close your time of prayer and then to be still.
- If you have any particular insights or reflections from this time of prayer, it can be helpful to take a few minutes to journal and write these down. Alternatively, you can write down a personalized and paraphrased version of the psalm as a prayer.
Group Option
To do this activity as a small group (2 to 4 people), the above outline can be modified as follows.
- As a group, choose a psalm, or a portion of a psalm, that feels appropriate (or one person can choose for the group).
- Designate one person to read out loud. It will still be helpful if everyone has their own copy of the psalm to look at.
- As a group, commit the time to God in prayer.
- The reader then reads the psalm out loud once so that everyone can get an overall feeling of its tone and structure. Pause for a moment afterward.
- The reader then reads the first verse out loud, slowly and clearly. Pause to give everyone an opportunity to respond out loud in prayer. It is not necessary that everyone prays for every verse, but everyone should have the opportunity and space to pray if they desire.
- Once there has been enough space given for everyone who desires to pray, the reader proceeds to the next verse and reads it out loud slowly and clearly. Repeat this pattern until you have read and responded to the whole passage.
- After you finish praying, take a few moments to be still. It can be helpful to take a few minutes to journal any reflections you have about the psalm and your interaction with it.
- If helpful, you could also write down a personalized version of the psalm as a prayer to use again at another time.
Possible Psalms
Psalm 6 — feeling troubled, crying for rescue
Psalm 8 — wonder at God’s creation
Psalm 10:12-18 — longing for justice and righteousness
Psalm 13 — mourning, oppressed, feeling God is distant
Psalm 16 — taking refuge in the goodness of God
Psalm 20 — trusting in the Lord’s help
Psalm 30 — rejoicing in God’s answer and rescue
Psalm 32 — thanks for God’s forgiveness
Psalm 33 — joy in the work of God
Psalm 34:1-10 — rejoicing in God’s goodness and answer
Psalm 37:1-11 — trusting God in amid evil and wickedness
Psalm 38 — heaviness and brokenness because of sin
Psalm 42 — discouragement and sadness
Psalm 46 — God’s power in times of trouble
Psalm 51 — mourning over sin
Psalm 61 — crying out in weakness
Psalm 62 — waiting for God’s rescue
Psalm 67 — praying for all nations to rejoice in God
Psalm 70 — crying for help from enemies
Psalm 71 — remembering God’s strength in a time of trouble
Psalm 73 — wrestling with injustice
Psalm 74 — why doesn’t God act?
Psalm 77 — a time of deep trouble
Psalm 84 — longing for God
Psalm 88 — despair and darkness
Psalm 91 — God as unconquerable refuge
Psalm 93 — the mighty reign of God
Psalm 96 — worship the God of all the earth
Psalm 98 — joy in God
Psalm 100 — thanks
Psalm 103 — remembering the compassion of God
Psalm 130 — waiting for God’s redemption
Psalm 131 — calm hope in God
Psalm 139 — God’s intimate knowledge, presence in our lives
Psalm 143 — thirsting for God, in need of His help