Praying the Psalms

Over the last three years, I have done a session 1 workshop on prayer.
I have done this because we always need to remember that prayer is necessary for gospel ministry because prayer demonstrates our dependence on God.

Two years ago, the workshop was Prayerful Dependence on God in Ministry and the focus was on Paul's prayers in the epistles.
Last year's prayer workshop was Prayer from the Church for the Church with the emphasis on prayers from church history.

This year's prayer workshop was Praying the Psalms for Your Church and Other Churches.

Biblical Prayers from the Psalms

Psalm 13

Verses 1 and 2 are filled with questions.

Verses 3 and 4 are waiting for the answer.

Despite these questions, the Psalmist writes in verses 5 and 6

But I have trusted in your steadfast love; 

my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.

I will sing to the Lord

because he has dealt bountifully with me.  

Despite the questions of verses 1 and 2 and the waiting on answers in 3 and 4, verses 5 and 6 are filled with trust because of God's love, rejoicing because of our salvation, and songs to the Lord.  

Psalm 118

HERE is a sermon I preached on January 12 on Psalm 118

Faulty Prayer Ideas

• "It seems like a waste of time."
• Lie:  Let's get working and do something
• Truth:  We are commanded to pray.  We need to grow in our dependence on God

• "I don't know how to pray."
• Lie:  There is an exact way that I need to pray.
• Truth:  Ask others to help you grow in your prayer life.  If you aren't sure how to pray, look to the Bible and others for examples of prayer

• "If God is sovereign, why bother praying?"
• Lie:  There is no reason to pray if God is sovereign.
• Truth:  We are commanded to pray by the sovereign God.  The purpose is not to change God's mind.

• Prayer does not work.
• Lie:  I have prayed for specific things and didn't get what I wanted.
• Truth:  "Effective prayer is the fruit of a relationship with God, not a technique for acquiring blessings."  D.A. Carson

"The problem is not a complete lack of prayer but too little God-dependent prayer.

"When prayer is sparse and sporadic, when it's done just enough to ease the conscience and not more, we've got a problem.  (Onwucheckwa, 18)

Keys to Prayer

• God and His Glory
• Man's dependence on God
• God's Word
• God's People

Marks of a praying church

• People pray more
• Harmony and unity in Christ
• Growing dependence upon God.
• "Where prayer is abundantly present, it teaches the church to really need the Lord.  Where prayer is absent, it reinforces that we believe we are okay without God."  
• Understanding prayer is not ONE MORE activity of the church.  Prayer lies at the heart of all the church's ministry.  (The Praying Church, 28)
• Individuals pray for each other and ask others to pray for you.

RESOURCES:

PERSONAL PRAYER:                                   

Do you pray? A Question for Everybody  by J.C. Ryle

Free ebook @ www.monergism.com/call-prayer-ebook

1. I ask, `Do you pray?' because prayer is  absolutely necessary to a person's salvation
2. I ask, `Do you pray?' because a habit of prayer is one of the surest marks of a true Christian
3. I ask, `Do you pray?' because private prayer  is the most neglected Christian discipline
4. I ask, `Do you pray?' because the Bible is full of  encouragement for all who want to pray
5. I ask, `Do you pray?' because faithfulness in prayer is the secret of true holiness
6. I ask, `Do you pray?' because neglecting prayer is one of the great causes of backsliding
7. I ask, `Do you pray?' because prayer is the best recipe for happiness and contentment

CHURCH—WIDE PRAYER:  A Praying Church by Paul Miller

“We’ll hear sermons on prayer, listen to a pastoral prayer, and begin meetings with prayer, but  prayer seldom happens naturally in conversation.  It just feels too religious”  (18) 

“Prayer is not one more activity of the church—it lies at the heart of all the church’s ministry” (26) 

“Good preaching (and teaching) needs good praying, or we begin to rely too much on the power of our horizontal words”  (56) 

“The act of praying itself is a kind of dying, where you give up your self-will to “make things happen” and go to God with a collective “Help us.”  The initial feeling of prayer is dying to self because    praying is an act of the will, a decision to shut down your activity and open the door to God’s activity.” (111)

“Prayer isn’t just another ministry; it is the ministry that sparks the rule of the Spirit of Jesus in all ministries”  (154, emphasis authors)

Psalm graphics to use as prayer reminders 

Psalm 19:1
Psalm 23:1
Psalm 34:1-3
Psalm 37:3
Psalm 46:10