Spiritual Disciplines - Prayer (3) Series

Prayer - Part 3

May 23, 2021

Sometimes you get a great idea for a sermon series or even for a sermon, but then you have to start putting it together and you realize you have no idea what to do. Well, honestly, that’s what today is feeling like for me. I said I was going to talk about preaching and using scripture, especially the psalms . . . but I’m not really sure how this will work.

I feel like I’m trying to put about 5-7 sermons into one. I’m not really looking for you to pat me on the back and say good job. I’ll know if it works when I’m done, God will let me know if I accomplished what I think I was wanting to accomplish. I guess, I’m just warning you this may sound disjointed, but I think, I hope, it will really be good to take in some of my thoughts about using scripture as a means of praying.

To start with . . . I have to admit, I love reading the psalms. Yup, there’s a lot of them - 150 to be exact. And at times, I wonder why God would even allow some of these to be in the Bible, because some are laments, and we’re going to look at some because they are vital for us to look at and they can really help lead us in prayer. You may not realize it, but there are 42 individual psalms of lament and 16 community psalms of lament. They make up almost 40% of the psalms.

The beauty of reading and using the psalms as a guide in prayer is the power of what the psalmist is telling us and God. They are written in a way which help us to draw closer to God. Sometimes those words are far more poetic than what we might say, but they convey our heart towards God as they are filled with emotion and spirit. There are psalms of praise, joy, happiness, grief, sorrow, anger, fear, repentance, and anguish.

So, let’s begin by looking at Psalm 100 - -

1 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!

2 Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into His presence with singing!

3 Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.

4 Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise! Give thanks to Him; bless His name!

5 For the Lord is good; His steadfast love endures forever, and His faithfulness to all generations. - Psalms 100

This is a great psalm to lead you off in your prayer. It’s a reminder of the awesome nature of God. It’s a call for the community to come together in praise and worship of God. It’s a great prayer for us on a Sunday morning. When we’re preparing ourselves to come to worship.

When we can slow ourselves down and praise God as we prepare to come together. It’s an acknowledgment that we are His sheep, we are His people. He is our Shepherd. Come into worship, at home or wherever with thankful hearts, blessing His name . . . WHY? Because God is faithful.

He will not let us down. Yes, life is not always easy, there is suffering and death; grief and loss, but God’s faithfulness will last for all generations. That’s great news and news we need to proclaim to ourselves and to God.

We come before God and we make a joyful noise. Whether you can carry a tune or not, we sing out to the Lord, we come with a desire to serve Him not begrudgingly, but with joy and knowing we are His and His love is constant and abiding.

You can even use this as a prayer for your family. That they would experience this joy of worship and praising and serving God. And there’s nothing wrong with changing the words to fit your situation as well.

As with all of these psalms and scriptures, you can easily personalize any of them. You can take a communal scripture and turn it into an individualistic scripture.

Now, I want to look at a lament. Remember, almost 40% are laments. There are so many to choose from. A lament is a call to God in the times of our distress. When we lament, we are deeply grieving or in a state of deep sorrow about something in life.

Sometimes when we are suffering, the last place we want to turn to is God. Sometimes, we’re angry at God for allowing this suffering to take place, whether we’re guilty or innocent, we may struggle with turning to God. Someone may become sick, they may die, they may become injured, or disabled; it may be a job loss or a friend hurts you. The list could be endless . . . and we lament, we grieve . . . and in our moment of grief we ultimately come before God and cry out.