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Well, the Psalms that we’re looking at this year, as the content of Our Gospel: One Chapter at a Time, the Psalms are also the Old Testament’s prayer manual. The Psalms are this extensive record of the prayers of God’s people. And in that way, they sit as a wonderful example of what it looks like to pray. They sit there in the middle of the Old Testament as a welcome to pray to the One who has the power and willingness to answer.

We should never take prayer for granted. Every time you pray, you are experiencing a personal miracle of divine grace, that the One who created everything, who rules everything, who sits in authority on the throne of the universe, is willing to hear us, is willing to listen to us, is so kind and tender that he welcomes us to bring our struggles to him.

I love the fact that the prayers of the Psalms aren’t these pristine, well-organized, theological prayers, as if, “If you don't get your theology right in your prayer, God won't listen.” The prayers of the Psalms are kind of chaotic and personal. We have Psalms of praise and anguish and question and doubt. One thing that’s very clear in the Psalms is God welcomes us to be utterly honest in the Psalms. We don’t have to hide our experience from him. We don’t have to hide our doubts from him. We don’t have to hide our wonderment and our questions from him, and our angers from anguish from him. In other words, you don’t have to clean yourself up to come in prayer to God. The Psalms teaches us we can come to God in prayer exactly as you are. And I don’t know if you’ve thought about this, when you pray the Psalms, you’re actually praying, the Psalms, the songs, the prayers of Jesus.

A good example of that is a very familiar prayer in the Psalms. This is Psalm 22:

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
    Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,
    and by night, but I find no rest.

Those words, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” were prayed by Jesus on the Cross. In that moment where God turned his back on his Son, God took every ounce of our rejection so we would never again see the back of God’s head. Here are the words of Jesus on the Cross, recorded for us centuries before the birth of Jesus.

I love the whole picture of the prayers in the Psalms. Here we are broken, confused, distressed, suffering, doubtful people, but we don’t have to live in guilt, we don’t have to hide in shame, we don’t have to act in front of our Heavenly Father as if we’re something that we’re not. The Psalms is a welcome to be completely, personally honest before God.

God is powerful enough and loving enough to handle your doubt, to handle your fear, to handle your guilt, to handle your suffering, to handle your wonderment about where he is and what he is doing. And he says, “You come to me, and I will hear, and I will answer.” Well, I would say to you: pray the Psalms!

Questions for Personal Reflection or Group Discussion

1. In what ways might you be taking the miracle of prayer for granted? Do you not pray as often as you should, taking for granted the opportunity to talk with your Heavenly Father and the Creator and Ruler of the universe? Or, if you do pray frequently, are you at risk of mindlessly and mechanically treating it as religious routine, taking for granted that each opportunity is a fresh and personal moment of spiritual relationship?

2. When you pray aloud with or in front of others, are you tempted to “show off”? Are you afraid of being honest, withholding what you really believe and what you truly want to communicate with God?

Conversation Prompts to Use with Children

For Younger Children: Do you like to talk with mommy and daddy? Do you cry with mommy and daddy when you’re sad? Do you tell mommy and daddy when you are afraid? Do you ask mommy and daddy lots of questions? Did you know that you can talk with God, too, by praying? God wants you to tell him everything that you are feeling. How are feeling today, and how can you pray about these feelings to God?

For Older Children: When was the last time you felt unheard, that is, someone didn’t listen to you or take the time to understand what you were feeling or trying to communicate? In what ways are you feeling rejected or forsaken by your peers? Are you struggling to believe that God listens to you and understands what you are going through? In what ways might you be trying to fake your positivity and pretend as if everything is going well when in fact, you are distressed, discouraged, confused, suffering, and angry? Why is it beneficial to be honest, both with God and with others?

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