I’m not sure what your daily prayers are like, but many of mine come down to asking God for things. Typically they hover around “bless me,” “help me,” or “give me.” In each one of those prayers, the idea is that I am lacking and that I want God to help make up my deficit. These aren’t necessarily wrong prayers, but if they’re all that I pray, then I’m missing something. The Psalms teach us that, beyond simply asking Him for the things we want or think we need, we also need to praise God. In one of my seminary courses I learned a really cool way to pray by using the Psalms as the launching point. First, take the day of the month and add 30 to it 4 times (that gives you 5 Psalms to choose from – on the 31st, use Psalm 119). For example, today is the 25th, so I would choose Psalms 25, 55, 85, 115, and 145. Secondly, quickly peruse each Psalm to see which one you’d like to pray for the day – this should take only about 30 seconds. Finally, read through the Psalm line by line and pause to offer God prayers for each part of it. Keep praying on one line until you have nothing left to say, and then move to the next line. Developing this discipline is an incredibly valuable piece for your devotional life. If my instructions didn’t make sense, don’t hesitate to post a comment or send a private message, and I’ll try to offer more insights.
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