Have you ever read the newspaper or watched the news and felt overwhelmed by the awfulness of what you learn? I know I do. So, what do we do when that happens? How do we respond?
A good way we can respond is with prayer. But, sometimes, it is hard to know how to pray in these situations. What words do we say? How can we pray? Of course, we can pray for peace or for God’s kingdom to come or for our leaders to govern with wisdom and mercy. But, sometimes, our words can feel inadequate.
This is where the book of Psalms can help. Psalms is the prayer book of the Bible, and a good devotion practice is to pray the psalms. However, we may feel that not every psalm feels applicable to us. That’s okay. But, I know that it can feel weird to pray a psalm that doesn’t have a personal resonance with us. So, instead, this is where we learn to pray the psalms on behalf of others.
N.T. Wright has a nice video about praying the Psalms on behalf of others. I invite you watch this and then to incorporate this practice into your devotional life.
Scottsville United Methodist Church 