Why pray the Psalms?
The Psalms are inspired prayers. They teach us to speak honestly — to praise, lament, confess, trust, and hope. They expand the narrow vocabulary of our own prayers.
Guide
Praying the Psalms
For three thousand years the Psalms have been the prayer book of God's people — the songs Israel sang in the temple, the prayers Jesus prayed on the cross, and the words the church has used every day since. This collection teaches you how to pray them: how to lament without losing faith, how to praise when you do not feel it, how to hear Jesus in every Psalm, and how to build a simple daily rhythm around them. Includes practical guides for morning and evening prayer, praying the Psalms with children, and using the Psalms in seasons of grief, thanksgiving, and repentance.
Pick a Psalm. Read it slowly. Pray any line that becomes your own. Let the Psalm carry you when you do not have words.
A simple pattern
1) Read the Psalm aloud. 2) Mark a line that arrests you. 3) Pray that line back to God. 4) Sit in silence. 5) Carry it through your day.
Psalms for praise
Psalm 8 · 19 · 33 · 103 · 145 · 150
Psalms for trouble
Psalm 13 · 22 · 42 · 88 · 130 · 142
Psalms for repentance
Psalm 6 · 32 · 38 · 51 · 130 · 143
Psalms of trust
Psalm 16 · 23 · 27 · 46 · 62 · 121
Psalms of thanks
Psalm 30 · 34 · 40 · 100 · 116 · 138
More prayer guides
Guide
The Lord's Prayer, line by line
A meditative walk through the prayer Jesus taught us.
Method
A.C.T.S. prayer pattern
ACTS — Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication — a simple daily framework.
For families
Praying with your children
Simple rhythms for morning, meal, and bedtime prayer with your kids.
Keep going · Amazon picks
Prayer resources on Amazon
Trusted books and journals to help you go deeper into "Praying the Psalms".
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Praying the Psalms — Ben Patterson
How to let the Psalms shape your prayer life.
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Open and Unafraid — W. David O. Taylor
The Psalms as an honest school of prayer.
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Prayer journal
A guided journal for daily requests, praises, and answered prayers.
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