Building a Life of Prayer

Psalm 109 is an imprecatory Psalm, which is a spoken curse. King David is calling for curses to come upon his enemies. This makes the Psalm a challenging Psalm to understand and apply. 

Psalm 107 is a call to thank the Lord for his steadfast love. Those who have heard and embraced the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ recognize that God's most excellent demonstration of steadfast love was in sending Jesus, who died on the cross to pay for our sins and was raised from the dead to give us eternal life. 

Psalm 106 is a call to thank and praise God, emphasizing not forgetting what He has done for us. Being grateful for what He has done for us can help us not to fall into a place of spiritual complacency. 

Psalm 105 calls us to praise God for His wondrous works that have been done on behalf of His people. It has a particular emphasis on God's faithfulness to his chosen people throughout history.  It reminds us that we should always thank God for who He is and what He has done. 

Psalm 104 contains a pattern of the psalmist writing "to" God and then writing "about" God. This Psalm teaches us that it is good to remember and reflect upon the great things God has done in our own lives and creation at large. It is also good to remember our complete dependence upon God. It is always appropriate to pray that God be glorified in our lives. 

Psalm 102 is a prayer of one afflicted, when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the Lord. Part of this Psalm is quoted in the New Testament book of Hebrews and the words are applied to Jesus. 

Psalm 101 is a Psalm of David. It is a prayer of commitment to the Lord. He expresses what he "will" and "will not" do. God's steadfast love is the solution to our inability to live with perfect holiness in our own strength. 

Psalm 100 is a psalm about thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is a vital part of a healthy prayer life.

Psalm 95 is a Psalm about worship. Our times of prayer should always include some element of praise to or worship of God. When we're in a time of prayer, we are given the instruction to obey him. Worship includes an obedient life. 

A key lesson in Psalm 94 is that we are blessed when God disciplines us, even if it may seem unpleasant to us at the time. Despite the evil we see happening around us, we can trust the God is in control. 

Psalm 92 is a Psalm of joy and hope. Despite the evil around us, it is always good to approach God with thanksgiving and singing praises. It is also good to remember and be grateful for all the things God has done for us. 

Psalm 90 is one of the great prayers of the Book of Psalms. It is a prayer of Moses. God is addressed as the "dwelling place." The eternal nature of God and the temporal nature of man is stressed. By trusting God, we can have wisdom so that God can make the work of our hands fruitful in his sight. 

Psalm 89 reminds us that we often face times in life when it does not seem like God's promises are being fulfilled. However, we should continue to seek God to turn toward Him. 

Psalm 88 does not sound like a very encouraging Psalm. It is perhaps the "darkest" of the Psalms because it does not end on a note of hope. What are we to make of this? Darkness and suffering are not the end for believers because we know the One who has brought the light of His grace and truth to us—Jesus Christ.

Psalm 86 is a prayer of David. King David was facing life-threatening circumstances when he wrote the prayer. Throughout the Psalm, King David turns his attention to who God is and what God has done in the past. 

In Psalm 85 we find prayer for God to restore his people, prayer that God would put away his anger toward His people, and prayer for revival. God has done all of these things for those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ. 

Psalm 84 is a prayer of devotion to the Lord and an expression of gratitude for the privilege of knowing and serving Him. It is rich in its teaching and encouragement.

Psalm 83 can guide us in praying when it seems enemies prevail against God's work. We should pray for God's word and truth to become known and for His power to be shown. 

Psalm 80 is a prayer in which the psalmist asks for the restoration of God's people. It can guide us as we pray for God's renewing, reviving, and strengthening work in His people—the Church.

Psalm 79 teaches us that in times of terrible crisis, it is always good to acknowledge our sins to God and pray for forgiveness. We should appeal to God's compassion and we should pray for God's name to be honored. 

The theme of Psalm 77 is praying when you are discouraged. When we are discouraged, we should begin our prayer time by focusing on who God is and what he has done.

Psalm 74 is a maskil of Asaph. It teaches us about prayer when it seems like God's will is not being done around us. We should never forget who God is and what He has done in the past. 

Psalm 73 deals with a change in perspective that Asaph, a worship leader during Biblical times, had.  When we need our perspective changed, we should draw near to God by praying, worshipping, hearing God's Word, and expressing our trust in the Lord. 

Psalm 72 is a psalm of Solomon. Verses 17-19 point to the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ. The psalm also guides us on how to pray for national leaders. We should pray for their righteousness,  that they should have compassion on the poor, and that they will honor the Lord as the only true God. 

The key theme of Psalm 71 is prayer in the time of old age. We never outgrow the need for God's help. We never age out of our need for His power and his grace.