Pray thePsalms
When the words won’t come, the Psalms give you language for grief, fear, guilt and joy. Learn how to pray them as your own.
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Sometimes you want to pray and the words won’t come.
Grief, confusion, even anger can leave you silent before God. You are not sure what you are allowed to say. The Psalms show you: all of it.
Pour out your heart
Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.Psalm 62:8 · NIV
The Psalms are prayers God put in His own book. They invite you to bring everything, not just the polished parts.
Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.Psalm 42:5 · NIV
From “How long?” to “I will sing”
Psalm 13 opens with four questions of abandonment and ends with a song. The movement happens inside the prayer, not before it.
How long, LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?Psalm 13:1 · NIV
But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing the LORD’s praise, for he has been good to me.Psalm 13:5–6 · NIV
David didn’t skip the complaint to reach the praise. He prayed through it.
A Psalm for every season
When you are grieving, try Psalm 13. When you are afraid, Psalm 27. When you have sinned, Psalm 51. When you are weary, Psalm 23.
Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.Psalm 42:5 · NIV
A Psalm to pray
“May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.”
Psalm 19:14 · NIVThree ways to begin
- Pray it in the first personPick one Psalm and pray it to God, line by line.
- Pause where it hitsWhen a line matches your heart, stop and tell God why.
- Add your own linesFollow its shape: honest cry, remembered trust, renewed praise.
The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.Psalm 145:18 · NIV
Which Psalm sounds like your heart today?
Pick the Psalm that sounds most like your heart today. Pray it slowly tonight, line by line, as your own.
Go deeper in the Word
Save the slides for when you can’t find the words, then keep studying.
Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.