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What psalm do you find yourself praying through most often and why?

In the recent issue of Credo Magazine, “How Then Shall We Pray? The Necessity of Prayer for the Christian Life,” we asked four individuals the question: “What psalm do you find yourself praying through most often and why?” Here are the psalms that have most impacted their prayer lives:

Erik Raymond

Erik Raymond blogs at Ordinary Pastor, and is a pastor at Emmaus Bible Church.

The 119th Psalm is my most frequent Psalm. Its emphasis upon the character of God and the nature of God’s Word serve to fuel my confession and petition. I use it like a personal revival hymnbook: I pray along with the Psalmist and if I can’t say the words personally then I confess it and cling to Christ who always loved God and his Word perfectly for me.

Nancy Guthrie

Nancy Guthrie teaches the Bible at her home church, Cornerstone Presbyterian Church in Franklin, Tennessee, as well as at conferences around the country and internationally, and through books and DVDs in the Seeing Jesus in the Old Testament series.

Several times a year we host a retreat at a lodge on the Cumberland River for couples who have lost children. On Sunday morning we go out on the back deck and have a time of praying through various psalms. I love to start with Psalm 19 as we look up at the sky and consider how the heavens declare his glory. Then we work our way through the beauties and perfections of God’s Word and what it does. This is a group of people who long to have their souls revived, to be given wisdom, to have joy return, to see things clearly, and to be assured that fearing the Lord and listening to him speak through his Word will be sweet. We need to hear more than our own voices which speak words of darkness and despair, and question God’s goodness. We need for the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts to be acceptable in his sight. We need for him to be a solid foundation underneath us. We need him to be a redeemer.

Joe Holland

Rev. Joe Holland is the church planting pastor at Christ Covenant Presbyterian Church in Culpeper, Va., and a member of the Acts 29 Network.

I’ve made it my practice for a while now to pray consecutively through the Psalms monthly utilizing morning and evening psalm readings. Whereas in the past I’ve befriended particular psalms for periods of time, I’m only now beginning to draw from the awe and majesty of the psalter as a whole. It’s changing my prayer life in unexpected ways, soul-stirring ways.

Kathleen Nielson

Kathleen Nielson serves as director of women’s initiatives for The Gospel Coalition. Author of the Living Word Bible studies, she speaks often at women’s conferences and loves working with women in studying the Bible.

In the last few years, Psalm 51 has invaded my prayers—partly because, in order to teach it, I worked on memorizing it for the fourth time (the first three times were along with our three sons as each went through sixth grade – what blessed homework!). Psalm 51 does its work from the inside out—moving from that inward being where God in his abundant mercy washes us clean and teaches us wisdom, to that outward joyful declaration of what he has done.

View other articles and columns in the recent issue of Credo Magazine today!

To view the Magazine as a PDF {Click Here}

We live in a world that screams to get our attention. From the moment you wake up to the second you hit your pillow at night, something or someone wants your time. Hosts of people are waiting for you to friend them on Facebook. The world awaits your next tweet and blog post. Your phone is buzzing because you have another email that needs your response. When you go home and turn on your TV there are innumerable “must see” shows, as well as breaking news you cannot afford to miss.  Let’s face it, the world we live in is quite loud, and it never sleeps.

In the midst of all this noise, where does extended time in prayer fit in? Or does it? Prayer seems to run contrary to the busyness of life in the twenty-first century. If you don’t believe me, ask yourself this question, “When was the last time I spent more than 15 minutes in uninterrupted prayer with the Lord?” Church history shows that for Christians who came before us, private and corporate prayer was essential, assumed to be a necessary staple for the Christian and the church. After all, it is the God-given means by which we have fellowship and communion with God himself.  Should we neglect prayer we actually neglect God, and the consequences are spiritually fatal. But should we set aside time to pray to God, we will benefit greatly, finding God to be a refuge and a shield in the midst of a chaotic, consuming, and demanding world.

In this issue of Credo Magazine we will focus on prayer, looking at how Christians in ages past have understood the importance of prayer, as well as Scripture’s own emphasis on the necessity of prayer. Not only will we recognize the importance of prayer, but in this issue we will look at how we pray as well. My guess is that most Christians have never even thought about how they should pray. Well here is a great opportunity to do so!

Contributors include: Gerald Bray, Aimee Byrd, Juan R. Sanchez, Peter Beck, Sandy Willson, Tim Keller, Sam Storms, Phil Johnson, Donald Whitney, Nancy Guthrie, among many others.

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