Skip to main content

HOW TO PRAY THROUGH THE PSALMS

How to Pray through the Psalms

August 03, 2015by: Donald S. Whitney

The Book of Praises

As a whole, the psalms comprise the best place in Scripture from which to pray Scripture. I base that on the original purpose for which God inspired the psalms. The book of Psalms—which means “book of praises” in Hebrew—was the songbook of Israel. The psalms were inspired by God for the purpose of being sung to God.
It is as though God said to his people, “I want you to praise me, but you don’t know how to praise me. I want you to praise me not because I’m an egomaniac but because you will praise that which you prize the most, and there is nothing of greater worth to you than I. There is nothing more praiseworthy than I, and it is a blessing for you to know that. It will lead to your eternal joy if you praise me above all others and above all else and to your eternal misery if you do not. But there’s a problem. You don’t know how to praise me, at least not in a way that’s fully true and pleasing to me. In fact, you know nothing about me unless I reveal it to you, for I am invisible to you. Therefore, since I want you to praise me, and it is good for you to praise me, but since you don’t know how to praise me, here are the words I want you to use.”
God gave the Psalms to us so that we would give the Psalms back to God.
In other words, God gave the Psalms to us so that we would give the Psalms back to God. No other book of the Bible was inspired for that expressed purpose.

The “Psalms of the Day”

In light of this, I want to commend to you a systematic approach for praying a psalm each day. The approach did not originate with me, but I can’t recall where I first encountered the concept decades ago. It’s called “Psalms of the Day.” If you intend to pray through a psalm, using the Psalms of the Day approach helps you avoid thumbing through the middle of your Bible, randomly searching for a psalm that looks interesting. Too often, such an inconsistent process results in omitting many of the psalms. It also can slow your devotional momentum as you find yourself aimlessly meandering through chapters instead of praying.
With the Psalms of the Day you take thirty seconds or so to quickly scan five specific psalms and pick the one that best leads you to prayer on that occasion. It’s based on taking the 150 psalms and dividing them by thirty days (because most months have at least thirty days). That results in five psalms per day.
Praying the Bible

Praying the Bible

Donald S. Whitney

Offering Christians encouragement and advice for reinvigorating their prayer lives, this practical resource outlines a foolproof plan for praying through the Bible—turning the duty of prayer into delight.
Or to put it another way, if you were to read five psalms a day for an entire month, at the end of the month you would have read through the entire book of Psalms. While reading five psalms a day is a great practice that many enjoy, that’s not what I’m advocating here. What I’m suggesting is that you take half a minute to quickly scan five psalms and pick one of those five to pray through.
If bringing math into prayer is making you skeptical, stay with me; I’ve created a simple, printable prayer guide that visually conveys all you’ll need to understand what I’m trying to describe.
Download my free Psalms of the Day Prayer Guide and start praying the Bible today!
This article was adapted from Praying the Bible by Donald S. Whitney. Sign up for a free five-day email course on praying the Bible at crossway.org/PraytheBible.
Donald S. Whitney
Donald S. Whitney (PhD, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa) is professor of biblical spirituality and associate dean at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. He has written several books, including Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life. Don blogs regularly at BiblicalSpirituality.org.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

25 SHORT PRAYERS FOR FAVOR AND BREAKTHROUGH-LAWYER NATALIE REGOLI

25 Short Powerful Prayers for Favour and Breakthrough Nov 18, 2018   by  Editor in Chief Ensuring we live in the Lord’s will is one of the best ways to make life easier for ourselves. These short powerful prayers for favor and a breakthrough will keep you spiritually focused and on track. Breakthrough Prayer Faithful Father, thank you that you are the resurrection and the life, death holds no power over you. The power that you used to conquer death now lives in me. Use your miracle-working power to bring a breakthrough in my life. May I know your all-conquering power, today, Lord. Hear my prayer.  You have loved me and have freed me from my sins by your blood. To you be glory and power forever and ever. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen. Special Favor Prayer Lord Jesus Christ, I thank you that, on the basis of your merit, I have inherited a full, abundant and eternal life. Awaken confidence in me that I may receive all the blessings that you have prepa...
Post a Comment
Read more

TEXTS- THE 8 WATCHES OF PRAYERS OF THE DAY

6PM – 9PM Prayer Watch First Watch of The Night 1 COMMENT ON 6PM – 9PM PRAYER WATCH FIRST WATCH OF THE NIGHT Prayer Watches of The Night 6PM – 9PM We thank you Lord to be able to come before your presence during these first prayer watches of the night 6PM – 9PM. We long to be in your presence during the times of prayer watches as we meditate and pray forth your Word. Psalm 119:148 My eyes wait for the night hours, so I may think about Your Word. Understanding The Prayer Watches: The first watch of the night is the time in which we are to possess the gates. All time has a gate of entrance. There is a gateway of entrance for years, months, weeks, days and hours. We must use the entrance of time between 6 pm – 9 pm to possess the first gate by way of prayer during the first prayer watch. This is the gate for the beginning of the new day. Gates of The City Have you ever noticed the signs at the entrance or gate of a city. You will typically see these welcome signs on the side...
Post a Comment
Read more

TEXT- 120 POWERFUL PRAYERS TO CRUSH WITCHCRAFT-MFM

  Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries (MFM) 120 Prayers to Crush Witchcraft (Inspired by the Holy Spirit through his servant Dr. Olukoya) 1. Every caldron operated to disgrace me, scatter in the name of Jesus. 2. As I go into this battle, I cover myself with the blood of Jesus. 3. I plead the blood of Jesus over this environment. 4. I reject every involvement of the flesh and Satan in my prayers. 5. O God rend the heaven in your anger and come over this territory. 6. Father, let witchcraft covens melt away as wax before fire. 7. O God arise and visit all witchcraft incantations with thunder, earthquake and a great noise. 8. O God arise, and instruct your angels to set unquenchable fire on witchcraft habitation. 9. O God arise and cause confusion on witchcraft camps assign against me. 10. O God arise and call protocol angels, evil angels, battle angels, security angels, ministry angels, territorial angel s to slay the power of witchcraft. 11. O earth refuse to carry out the ins...
1 comment
Read more