Introducing the “Spiritual Discipline of Praying the Psalms”
The Spiritual Discipline of Praying the Psalms is designed for those who want to survive and thrive through the crises of faith.
An Introduction
I designed the Spiritual Discipline of Praying the Psalms for a certain type of person. The discipline will frustrate those who want to sprinkle a little bit of religion on top of their unchanged lives. I designed Spiritual Discipline of Praying the Psalms specifically for those who have a genuine, deep, and abiding faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. This discipline is designed for those who believe in an eternally Triune God who is both transcendent and immanent.
This transcendent God is the Creator and Sustainer of all things, sovereign over every element of the universe, the Moral Ruler of the universe, the One who was and is and is to come, the source of all truth, the giver of life, the One who is holy and pure and dwells in unapproachable light.
This transcendent God is also immanent, close, and personal. This God created us and knows us individually. This God is close and present, walking with us through the struggles of life. Through Christ, this God indwells us and helps us with His strength and wisdom. He both knows us and can be known by us.
This person of faith believes God is the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe but also calls Him their Heavenly Father and Good Shepherd. And out of these basic convictions, spring the journey of faith.
The Spiritual Discipline of Praying the Psalms is designed for those who embrace the Gospel of Jesus Christ. While this eternal, transcendent God is holy, we are far from it. We are sinners who have rebelled against His holy and sovereign rule, disobeying His commands, worshipping other gods, and mistreating others. God calls these actions “sin,” and the consequence of sin is the justly deserved wrath of God. Sin is why we don’t actually want the Transcendent God to be immanent. We fear His wrath.
Into this darkness, the gospel shines. This transcendent, eternal, triune God abounds in love and mercy. God did something for us that we could never do by ourselves or for ourselves. God the Father sent God the Son to become flesh and to bear our sins on the cross. Through His sacrificial and atoning death on the cross, we can be forgiven of our sins and reconciled once again with this transcendent God. Through Christ, redeemed sinners once again welcome the immanence of God. This God of love and mercy draws near to us as the personal, indwelling, helping and guiding immanent Spirit of God.
This transcendent and immanent God gifts those of faith with the mysterious and life transforming gift of prayer. We simplify prayer by defining it as “talking with God,” but perhaps a more complete definition would include “an ongoing, two-way conversation with God about life and faith.” Yes, this personal God both speaks to us as He hears us speak to Him.
I designed the Spiritual Discipline of Praying the Psalms for those who long to be totally transformed by their faith in Jesus Christ. They want to develop the mind of Christ, seeing the world the same way Jesus sees the world, thinking as He thinks, understanding truth as He defines truth. They want to obey the commands of Christ, both their outward actions but also their inward thoughts and desires. They want to be transformed into the image of Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit. And they want to participate in the mission of Christ, joining the divine eternal plan of bringing all things under the headship of Christ.
These desires require the important spiritual discipline of prayer. In our desire to be a disciple of Christ, on our journey of faith, we know that we will walk through many trials and tribulations.
The person of faith knows they will face many crises of faith along the journey.
A crisis of faith is when the person of faith wonders why this transcendently powerful God does not feel immanent at this moment. If God is all powerful and sovereign over every aspect of His creation, then why doesn’t He act to deliver me from this painful moment? If God is immanent and close and personal, then why does He feel absent? Why won’t this all-powerful God help me like I am asking Him to? Is He really there? Does He really love me? Can I really trust Him?
A prepared faith survives and thrives through a crisis of faith. On the other hand, an unprepared faith crashes and burns during a crisis of faith. I think that most believers want a surviving and thriving faith but few want to do the work to have a prepared faith.
I designed the Spiritual Discipline of Praying the Psalms for those who want to have a prepared and victorious faith.
The Spiritual Discipline of Praying the Psalms is a regular, disciplined, systematic, faith enriching, soul searching, gospel centered, on-going conversation with a transcendent and immanent God.
Are you interested in this kind of prepared faith? In the coming days, I will share specifically about each one of these components and how you can begin to practice the Spiritual Discipline of Praying the Psalms.