Stop saying the same old things about the same old things!

We’re nearing the end of our Psalms in the Summer series as we approach VBS (August 21-23) and Serve Sunday on August 25!

I want to encourage you, though, to continue to spend regular time reading Psalms. We’ve looked at Psalms of comfort, hope, desperation, and wonder. We've wondered, we've sung, we've pondered...

I read a great article about using the Psalms in prayer as a jumping off point in our prayer lives. Donald Whitney, in his article “Why You Should Be Praying the Psalms”(Click HERE to read the full article) starts off by recognizing that most people struggle in prayer because they find themselves “saying the same old things about the same old things.” And that’s BORING. Not only is it boring, but the words lose their meaning. And we end up feeling like failures in prayer.

His solution: Pray the Bible instead.

Here’s a quick summary about why we should use the Psalms in prayer:

1. We’ll pray more biblically-faithful prayers.

2. We’ll be freed from the boredom of saying the same old things about the same old things.

3. We’ll pray more God-centered prayers.

4. We’ll enjoy more focus in prayer.

5. We’ll find that prayer becomes more like a real conversation with a real person.

Use the Psalms you read as a springboard for prayer. For example, in reading Psalm 23, you might pray about the ways that you need God to be the shepherd in your life, or in the life of your child. Perhaps you need to ask God to help you “Be still and know that He is God.” (Psalm 46:10) Ask God to help you delight in His word (Psalm 1:2)

As you finish up reading the Psalms this summer, make it a conversation with God – pray His word back to Him. As you read and pray, you will not end up saying the same old things about the same old things! God will ignite your prayers, and you will look back and see the many ways that He answers!