 Breaking up Bad reception on your mobile makes for a bad conversation. You only get partial words and phrases. It can feel a bit like that when you read the Bible, your eyes are skimming along the sentences but your heart is either elsewhere or disengaged. God’s Word at these times seems dry and disconnected to our lives. Perhaps God feels distant not only when you read his Word but when you pray to him. If this is your experience then you are not alone and you are not without help. God has provided you with the Psalms.
Tune in We need better reception so that we can clearly hear God speak to us through his word so that we can also confidently speak with God. It’s like when we walk around trying to find a sweet spot where the reception for our mobile will allow us to hear and speak clearly. The Psalms are your spiritual sweet spot. Your prayers Psalms are prayers, prayed by people who were connecting with God. Psalms are there not just to be read but to be prayed (and sung), by you, by your family, by your Church and by your Nation. You can make each of the Psalms your prayer to God. Own God’s Words Sometimes you may not know what to pray, or your prayers have become repetitive and dry. Well pray the Psalms. Make the words you read your own words. Ask God to connect with you through the words in the Psalms. If the Psalm gives praise to God then enter into that praise or if the Psalm cries out for God’s help or forgiveness try to relate the Psalmist’s experience to your own. The Sufferer’s haven If you suffer then this is the place for you. Much of the Psalms relate to our suffering and difficulty we experience in our lives. They speak of enemies who seem to prosper (Ps 73); they speak of God’s apparent inaction, indifference and distance (Ps 13). They are often raw with pain and suffering (Ps 6:6-7). There are words in the Psalms that you would be too scared to pray if they weren’t in a Psalm, like “How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked?” Ps 82:2 Angry Psalms Every human experience is expressed in the Psalms. There is praise and worship, there is the difficulty of being betrayed by close friends (Ps 55), there is the difficulty of God’s distance (Ps 13), there is even anger towards enemies (Ps 7). These angry Psalms are called Imprecatory Psalms. They are Psalms which curse your enemies. They are not to be prayed lightly. I often pray them not against individual people but against my spiritual enemies, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:12 Personal Examples Let me give you a couple of personal examples. In the midst of losing my job, and being forced to move out of my home these words became my own: “I called to the Lord in distress; The Lord answered me and set me in a broad place.” Ps 118:5. A broad place means a place of safety and security. God did answer my prayer. Psalm 34 is a Psalm I often prayed because it is the prayer of a man who learned how to cope when he wasn’t coping. You can listen to a sermon I preached on this Psalm by clicking on this link www.godsgap.net/howtocope. Connect with God My prayer is that you will pray the Psalms and establish and strong and lasting connection with God. the Rev (Chris Perona), www.godsgap.net. |
