Prayer Journey and Psalm 20

I haven't blogged about this yet, but I figure now is a good time! I recently finished reading a book called "Confessions of a Prayer Slacker" by Diane Moody. My old pastor at my church in Nashville, Pete Wilson, referred to this book on his blog. Pete wrote the Plan B book I read and blogged about some here, so I completely trusted his opinion when he said that this book was a good read.

I highly suggest this book for anyone who struggles with prayer. Before you respond by thinking that you don't struggle with prayer, think again. Do you talk to God every single day? Do you take time out of every day not to just pray for yourself and other people, but to learn more about Him through His word? Most importantly, when you pray, are you just going through the motions or are you genuinely having a conversation with God? Trust me, we can ALL work on our prayer lives.

This book completely inspired me to go on a new prayer journey. I have purchased a new journal. Not the kind that has half a page full of a devotion and only a couple of lines for you to write on, but a fully blank journal (well there is some scripture sometimes written at the top or bottom of the pages in my journal, but you get the point). For the past several weeks, I have started making time in the morning before I come to work to go into our spare bedroom and spend time with God. I write all kinds of things in the journal. Any issues I'm dealing with at that moment, prayers for others, my thanks to God for His blessings in my life, etc. I also read scripture every morning. In the book, Diane Moody suggests starting with the Psalms, which is what I did. I have read one of the Psalms every morning and then write about it in my journal (I still have over 100 Psalms to go). It's amazing how it affects your day when you take the time to spend with God at the very beginning of your day. The book has also changed the way I pray. I can't really explain it, you'd have to read it, but it is certainly for the better.

The other day was my day to read Psalm 20 and I fell in love with it. I'm not sure why, maybe it's because I really enjoy praying for other people, but sometimes I'm left without words when I'm trying to pray for them. I know they need prayers, but not for any one thing in particular. I know that God knows your thoughts and prayers before you even speak them, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't pray. And David has the answer in Psalm 20 for how you pray for someone when you're not really sure of what they need prayers for:

"May the Lord answer you when you are in distress.
May the name of the God of Jacob protect you.
May He send you help from the sanctuary
and grant you support from Zion.
May He remember all your sacrifices
and accept your burnt offerings.
May He give you the desire of your heart
and make all your plans succeed.
We will shout for joy when you are victorious
and will lift up our banners in the name of our God.
May the Lord grant all your requests.
Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed;
He answers him from His holy heaven
with the saving power of his right hand.
Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
They are brought to their knees and fall,
but we rise up and stand firm.
O Lord, save the king!
Answer us when we call!"

That's a pretty powerful prayer. David sure can write! This is also a good prayer to pray for someone when they ask you to pray for them and a situation they're in, but they don't want to inform anyone of the specifics. It's just a great prayer overall. I love it and hope you do too.